Spyder
by Renz
Summary: Robotnik has been defeated, yet the world is not safe. Pettty differences have driven Mobians apart, and none are more aware of this than Miles 'Tails' Prower. He doesn't want anything to do with it of course, but noone can run from their fate.
1. To Lose it All

**Spyder**

"He, the greatest of his kin, He, who is quick of mind and keen of senses. He who is untouched by disease or plague, from whom sickness flees, He, whose image is distorted and yet is great, shall stand before the darkness. He shall wield the finest weapons with the greatest skill, He shall have strategy and tactics so that none can best Him. He shall possess the might of titans...

"He shall be the Chosen One, and He shall know no fear."

-The prophesy of the Chosen One, as spoken by the Ancient Walkers.

**Chapter 1: To Lose it All**

'_...damn.'_

There was no other way to describe how he felt, really, not without using a colourful selection of curses. He probably would have used them instead too, if he had the strength; but he could feel it leaving him now. Along with his blood, now running out of the blaster holes in his chest and staining the grass around him crimson.

It wasn't this that was making him fell so useless though. It was the fact that he had failed _again!_ He was supposed to be protecting them, heck, he'd even promised that little girl Cream that he would be her personal bodyguard! He'd run back to them as soon as he had caught the metallic scent of swatbots, but...

There were just too many of them.

Yes, that was it. He wasn't losing his reflexes or anything (or at least he hoped he wasn't- a mercenary without reflexes was a dead mercenary), it was just that he'd been overwhelmed. Not even Sonic could have won against those odds.

...could he?

His eyes, one organic and the other mechanical, rotated to view the area before him. A sight of pure chaos met him, bodies, heads, arms – you name it and it was there – from defeated machines were scattered around in heaps. Yes, he had destroyed a lot of them, but they had just kept coming!

No, Sonic would not have won! He could have zipped around, spinning like he always does, maybe using one of those power rings of his to become faster, but he would have moved away from the kids. It was the blue hedgehog's only major flaw- he was too impatient, trying to take the fight to the enemy, always leaving his back unprotected.

The fox, a young adult now who had not been in this part of the woods for many years, leant back against the tree which he had collapsed by after the bots began to co-ordinate both ranged and melee assaults on him at once.

'Funny,' he thought, 'I used to play here when I was little... Who would have thought that I'd die here, too. I guess I deserve it though.'

It was his last legible thought before his muscles relaxed with exhaustion, pulling the six retractable metal claws back between his knuckles and up into his forearms as they did so. The only sounds to accompany them were a quiet metallic ring.

As he slipped into unconsciousness, his mind flew back to the events, stretched over ten long years, which had gotten him into this mess. Most of them, until recently, would often happen in his nightmares and cause him to wake up screaming in pain, horror, and fear.

It had always seemed to be that way.

Such was his life.

----------

"Geeeeoal!" Amy Rose cried, jumping up and down in glee whilst pumping her fist into the air. Miles Prower, or 'Tails' as he was otherwise known thanks to the bizarre birth defect of having two tails, watched in surprise as a huge grin began to spread it's way across his face.

10-6 was the score. They were playing dirt hockey, a game that his surrogate family had all but invented for the sole purpose of keeping him occupied. It was such a fun game that it had become quite popular and kids involved had begun to form teams.

Tails had had difficulty finding someone to play with him, because the other kids tended not to like him too much- either they were uncomfortable around him due to his abnormality, or they were jealous of the attention he received from Knothole's elite- namely the Freedom Fighters, led by Princess Sally Acorn, the rightful ruler of Mobius, and the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog.

It wasn't until Amy Rose had turned up that he had had a real friend his age. She had been moved to Knothole from a small town to the southwest in the great forest, one that had been overrun by Robotnik's forces. Her father had been killed, and her mother had barely survived. Both had been brought here by Sonic and a small contingent of Freedom Fighters, and she – much like Tails – had developed a sort of hero-worship of the hedgehog.

And whether it was because of that or because of some other reason, she and Tails got along fantastically. They played together all the time, and had drawn themselves some amused looks from most of the residents of Knothole. They didn't understand what those looks meant, though.

It hadn't been long until Tails had shown her the basics of dirt hockey, and she had picked it up almost immediately. And so, the fox had a teammate, and they had begun to practice to become a proper team.

And they had just won their first game.

"Yeah!" he shouted, and ran to her. They hugged, and jumped around to the sound of clapping from the small number of spectators. They were so caught up in their victory that they didn't realise the pitch had gone silent except for them.

That was until someone grabbed Tails by the scruff of his neck and pulled him away.

"Wha-?" he yelped, trying to look around to find who had gotten a hold of him.

One day later, he was standing in Knothole courtroom.

He was scared. Very scared, and that was saying a lot, considering that at only twelve years old, he had been in a number of exploits which someone twice as old should never witness; had seen his parents die, almost been turned into a robot, and been fired at with live blaster ammunition countless times but to name a few.

And here he was, trapped, but not by machines. That was why he was so scared, for those imprisoning him were the very people whom he had come to see as his family.

Much like it had been to Sonic and Aunt Sally when Robotnik took over (he guessed), he could not really understand what was going on. It had to be bad, of course- the imprisonment, the guards watching him, and the disapproving looks from the Freedom Fighters all spoke volumes. He was in deep trouble, definitely, but _why_ he was in trouble was unknown to him. No one would tell him either. He had asked Sonic when he had passed nearby, but he had simply looked at him and then walked away. The other Knothole Freedom Fighters he knew well – Bunnie, Rotor, Dulcy – had reacted in a similar way. Antoine, however, had reacted in a more aggressive manner, calling him (with his French accent providing minor difficulties in translation) a "fuelish child", followed by "perhaps you did not think that we would find out about your, how you say, treachery?".

And that had been new to him. Traitor? He wasn't a traitor. He was a Freedom Fighter in training! In just a few months, he'd be a real Freedom Fighter! And then he'd go fighting Robotnik with the others! He was no traitor, no way!

This was why he found it confusing that he was standing in the dock in the Knothole courtroom. Why was he on trial? They didn't _really_ think he was a traitor, did they?

Before him, sitting at a long desk, were Sonic and Sally with Bunnie to the left of them and Antoine to the right. Either side of the distance between them were three rows of seats, at which some of the inhabitants of Knothole sat. From the array of faces, he could only see a few he knew personally- Rotor was there. So was Amy.

"We... All know why we are here," Sally said, making a start to proceedings. "Tails honey, answer with either 'yes' or 'no' for now, do you understand?"

He nodded, and then said in a shaky voice (as he was quite nervous at this point), "Um... Yes, Aunt Sally."

This appeared to have some effect on her, as she had to pause for a moment before she continued.

"Is your name Miles Prower?"

He ignored the quiet laughter that rose from the spectators at the sound of his rather goofy name.

"Y-yes."

"And you are twelve years old?"

"Yeah, but I'm thirteen next month!"

"So you are twelve right now."

He considered pointing out again that he was nearly thirteen (which made a significant difference as far as he was concerned), when he noticed the look Sally was giving him. It was begging him to confirm what she had said.

"...yes."

"Thank you Miles."

Miles? That was strange- Aunt Sally never calls him Miles...

"You are here to receive your judgement and sentence on the charge of treason the murder of Ari."

"What!" he exploded. "Murdered? I, I didn't! I haven't killed anyone!"

"Miles, there is no doubt. We found traces of your blood by his body... Nicole has made a 100 match. There is no doubt that you were there."

"But I didn't do it! I didn't know Ari was dead 'till now!" He turned to Sonic in desperation. "Sonic you gotta believe me, I couldn't kill him!"

Sonic refused to look at him, instead keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. Tails felt his knees turn to jelly as his idol refused to help him.

"Miles, please," Sally said, her voice breaking as she did so. "Because you are still a child, you are not eligible to the adult sentence of execution. Instead, we have decided that... exile is the best option."

It was then that Tails first felt like his life was falling apart. And, as things would have it, it wouldn't be the last time either.

----------

"Yah ready, sugar?"

Tails stared at his old bed, lost in thought and not really listening to his Aunt Bunnie.

'Just Bunnie, not Aunt Bunnie. Not anymore.'

They had completely ignored him, of course, as he was not legally an adult. Therefore, he could not defend himself with much skill, as no one would believe him. Those who knew him well seemed to want to listen to what he had to say, but they were the minority.

In the end, exile was about the best he was going to get for the murder he had, apparently, committed. How or why anyone would believe that he had anything to do with it was beyond him, until Nicole had been consulted to explain that some foreign blood on Ari's body had been his. Those believing that Tails was guilty had pointed out that he had a cut on his arm. Amy had stood and said that the cut had been inflicted by accident when they were playing dirt hockey a few days prior to the trial.

But she was a child too, so no one had really paid her much attention. After all, she may have been trying to cover for him. There were no witnesses to this game.

Rotor was quick to point out that there were no witnesses to the murder either, but fact were facts- the blood being present said that Tails had come into contact with Ari when he died. A knife, found nearby had traces of his sweat on the grip.

There was no other way to explain it all. And so, he was being cast out from the place he had come to call home at only twelve years old.

"Tails, y'hear me?" Bunnie asked, sadness clearly evident in her voice.

"Yeah," he replied, his throat dry. So dry that it hurt to speak. He needed a drink of water.

He put on his backpack, filled with a few possessions- a small toolkit (it had been a birthday present), a pendant with his name on that Sonic had once made for him, and a picture of all of the Freedom Fighters.

...a picture of those who were casting him out into the world, alone.

He also had a few more items- some apples to last him until he came across another town, a map of the Great Forest and a compass, plus a torch.

He walked out of his hut, his home, and into the streets of Knothole. His head was hung, avoiding the gases of those who had come out to watch him go. Bunnie walked with him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He appreciated the comfort she was trying to offer him- but the bitterness that she had allowed him to be framed and punished for a crime he knew nothing of prevented him from allowing himself to give in to it.

It was difficult, but he would not cry. Sonic wouldn't cry.

As they neared the outskirts, the hedgehog in question came into view standing with Sally, Antoine, Rotor, and Amy. All of them except for Antoine looked guilty that they could not do more to help him, or even go with him- but to do such a thing was forbidden by the laws of the House of Acorn. Antoine stood apart from the group, sneering down his muzzle at the boy. Tails cringed.

Rotor seemed like he didn't know what to do, which was appropriate as he was a big kid really- he was as confused as Tails that all of this could happen so fast. He said,

"Goodbye Tails, and good look. Stay safe, okay?"

Tails nodded, and put on a brave smile. It felt false though. And it made him feel like a fool.

Bunnie and Sally both hugged him whilst beginning to tear up.

"Now ya listen to me, hun," Bunnie said. "You be good, and you be careful, alright? I don't believe that ya had anything to do with Ari, but there's nothin' that I can do 'bout it... I hope we meet again sometime."

Sally immediately latched onto him when Bunnie was done, whispering in his ear,

"I've always thought that you were like my child, my little boy... If there was anything I could do to help you Tails, you know I'd do it, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Please, be careful. And come home to me one day."

She kissed him on the forehead, and stepped away. Tails found himself looking at Sonic, his idol, who was smiling at him as if to inspire confidence in the young fox. He gestured for Tails to follow him, and walked away from the group and towards the trees.

He followed, and when Sonic judged that they were far enough away, he stopped and knelt down to be face-to-face with the boy.

"You know that you're my best bud, don't ya?"

"Yes," Tails whispered.

"Good. Because I want you to know that you still are, and you will always be. I don't believe that you could have killed anyone, Tails. I know you; it's not possible for someone with a heart of gold like you to do something evil like murder. And I swear to you, I'm going to find out who really killed Ari. I'm going to clear your name, bring you home, and then you're gonna join us. You have so much potential... You're going to be the best Freedom Fighter ever, ya hear me?"

The corners of Tails' mouth perked up a little. "Thanks, Sonic," he croaked.

Then Sonic reached forward and hugged him.

"Everything's going to be okay little buddy, ya hear me? It's all going to be okay."

Tails felt his eyes watering up at Sonic's promise, but felt inspired by it too. Yes, everything was going to be okay, because Sonic would make it okay. He'd never failed him before, why should he do so now?

"Now go on, Tails, and I'll see you soon. Be brave, okay? Make me proud."

He looked over Sonic's shoulder at the others, where he saw Amy openly crying into Bunnie's shoulder. Sally looked like she was on the verge of breaking down too, but was doing her best to look like she was in control.

"I'll see you soon, Sonic. I'm sorry for everything," Tails said before running into the Great Forest without once looking back.

It was the last time any of them would see Tails for ten years.

----------

He had been on his own for maybe a week, and already he was in serious trouble.

It wasn't his fault, he was sure- it was the emotional farewell that the others had given him, causing him to run wildly to the east and straight towards Robotropolis.

Naturally, the closer one got to the mechanical city, the more frequent swatbots patrols became. Tails, still inexperienced in the ways of stealth from the Freedom Fighters, had stumbled upon one of these patrols and was currently being chased back the way he had come.

Yes, he was exiled. But surely Sonic would help him out anyway! They were still best buds after all!

But would the others? Some didn't seem to believe that he had killed Ari, but others clearly did. What if they attacked him instead?

Sonic wouldn't let them though, surely!

But what if Sonic wasn't around? What if he was away, trying to clear his name?

It was this line of thought that proved to be Tails' downfall. Being so deep in thought meant that he wasn't looking where he was going, so it was no wonder that he ran straight into a red and black hedgehog who sent him spiralling to the ground. Stunned and confused, he pulled himself to his knees, only to be lifted by the scruff of his neck clean of the ground. The hand that had grabbed him rotated him slowly, bring him face-to-face with the visor of a swatbot.

He was trapped, had no escape plan, and had no one to save him. So he summed up his situation in two short words.

"Oh no."

----------

Months after Tails had left, months since his trial, and months since he had supposedly killed Ari- Sonic had became more and more frustrated at his lack of progress in clearing the little guy's name.

He knew that Tails hadn't done it. He was certain, Tails just wasn't capable of killing yet, but he needed proof, and of that he had found nothing. Sally had been helping too, followed by Bunnie and Amy, but so far, none of them had found anything at all.

But Sonic's commitment had paid off when he stumbled across a strange creature. It was a fox, whom he had at first mistaken for young Miles, until he had realised that it only had one tail, and was far too tall. He had called out to it, thinking of the possibility of gaining another Freedom Fighter, only to receive the shock of his life when the creature turned.

As it turned out, it was not quite a fox- well it had been at one time, but was now a hybrid of flesh and metal. Its left eye was replaced a bionic eye- a cold grey box-like contraption with a ring on the front, a glowing yellow orb in the centre. Its lower jaw was also metal, with large and sharp silver teeth protruding from the metallic gums as it growled at him.

Various parts of its body were covered with metal plates as a crude form of armour, breaking up the natural reddish orange fur in clumps. And, emerging from the backs of each forearm, were a pair of deadly blasters. For a moment, Sonic had been reminded of Bunnie's partially robotic body, and thought that this was some new form Robotnik's swatbots – a workerbot with weapons – but that idea was quickly dispelled when he realised that the metal was not a part of the fox's body, but was instead grafted _into_ it.

The creature had been no robotisization. It was some kind of cybernetic organism, a living machine!

They had had a short battle which had demolished a group of trees and created a new clearing in the Great Forest, but ultimately (and as always) Sonic had come off the victor.

The body had been taken back to Knothole, where Rotor and Dr. Quack had got to work on finding out what it was. The results were disturbing for everyone.

The fox had still been alive, and apparently had a will of its own- the trouble was that its entire skeleton had been replaced with a crude mechanical version, complete with motors, ammo feeds and ammo drums for the blasters, so that it could be controlled remotely. The living brain of the host body had provided it with information about the immediate environment, but had been unable to control it- the fox had been alive, though trapped, when Sonic had fought it.

No one in Knothole had come across such a thing before, and so it had been nicknamed a 'Cyborg' (coming from the combination of 'cybernetic' and 'organism'). And there was only one person who had the ability and cruelty required to do such a thing- Dr. Robotnik.

A meeting had been held in the Knothole war room, gathering the leaders of all other Freedom Fighter factions together to discuss this alarming occurrence. The use of their own against them was not the problem, as that had been happening for years due to robotisization. No, the real concern had been that these creatures were very, very deadly, because they had the wits and intelligence of a living creature combined with the weapons and reflexes of machines. Sonic had nearly been killed against the first Cyborg, and that one had clearly been a prototype judging by the state of its mechanical parts- how powerful would an army of them be?

A debate on what to do next went on for over three hours, marred by petty infighting. Yet, all had been united when Rotor and Dr. Quack had burst into the room with important news.

They had found that, not only had the Cyborg been 'upgraded' with metallic accessories, but it had also had part of its genetic code altered to match that of one Miles 'Tails' Prower. And, traces of Ari's blood had been found hidden under it's sporadic fur- there was no doubt that it had killed Ari. Tails was innocent.

Robotnik's plan was clear- he intended to turn the Freedom Fighters against each other, causing them to be weakened so that he could destroy them all. So they had retaliated by uniting together to defeat him, and began to amass a huge army beneath the canopy of the Great Forest.

The Knothole Freedom fighters remained concerned, however. They all knew that Tails had tremendous potential; though he was young, he showed traits that were far beyond his age. If he completed his training, there was little doubt that he would become one of the best.

What if Robotnik knew this? What if he had planned for Tails to be exiled all along? What if... What if he planned to use Tails against them?

It was a frightening thought. So immediately search parties had been sent out to find him. But eventually, a time was decided, and the assault on Robotropolis began. The battle was long, bloody, and violent, but in the end Robotnik fell and the city was levelled.

Tails was never found.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog, nor X-Men... I don't have any money either, so please don't sue me!

Well ladies and gentlemen, here is my offering to the Sonic fanfiction community. I hope you enjoy it. :-) This fic is based upon the SatAM universe, but takes elements from Sonic games and, especially, the comics. I won't deny that a lot of this had been inspired from X-Men, but don't think of it as a 'traditional' crossover. Cyclops and Wolverine will not pop in to say hello. Rather than simply mashing X-Men and Sonic together, I'm doing my best to blend the themes of one with the story of the other, hopefully resulting with something that is coherent with the SatAM cartoon... but you readers are the judges of that, I suppose.

In addition, there are a number of Warhammer 40,000-ish references. What can I say? I love the darkness of that universe, and I just had to bring a touch of it here.

Anyway, I talk too much. I hope you enjoyed this prologue-like chapter, and please, leave a review!


	2. Mercenary

On to the next chapter! :-D 

I must admit, I was kind of disappointed to only get one review- but what they hey, I don't write just for the reviews. I'd like to say thanks to Ice Wolf17 though, for his nice comments and all. To answer his question, the Cyborg that Sonic defeated was not Tails- it was created from a fox so that it would give the impression that it was Tails. The kid was framed, you see. 

The previous chapter was just a prologue of sorts to set up the scenario. This chapter is where the real story begins, and as you shall see, it's where it begins to earn its rating too.

I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, so I should do it now. As most of the characters in SatAM were teenagers, I've assumed that they were not fully developed growth-wise. As they are now adults in this fic, imagine them a bit taller.

Oh yes, and they all have four fingers and a thumb.

Enjoy! And please review so that I know what you think!

Chapter 2: Mercenary 

With a tired yawn, a 28-year-old Bunnie Rabbot leant back into the fake-leather cushions of the coffee bar. It had been a long few days, but now the task with which she and Amy had been issued was over- the mayor of the city of Chestnut, a wolf named Raid (once a Freedom Fighter leader himself), had agreed to go into talks with Princess Sally of Knothole on the possibility of starting a Republic between them.

They had decided, once the talks were over, to go somewhere to relax and get a bite to eat- this coffee bar, situated along one of the main roads of Chestnut, had been prefect. A quick drink, a cake, and then they'd set off to their military issue hover-car to make their way home.

It had been ten years since the war with Robotnik had ended, and the world had changed a great deal. The constant threat of the insane professor had ceased to loom over them all, giving some measure of freedom- however, the power vacuum that came from his downfall had caused an unforeseen occurrence. The different divisions of Freedom Fighters, scattered all over the world, had quickly formed their own city-states and provinces. Of these, the state of Knothole was the most powerful for two reasons; first, because its borders followed those of the Great Forest (providing unmatched defensive capabilities), and second, because of it's short distance from Robotropolis- a great deal of the technology found there had proved to be very useful. It had allowed them to create the de-robotisizer (the reason why Bunnie now had all of her original organic limbs back), hover-transports (the machines they could use to get to places in the far south, such as Chestnut, very quickly), and the Knothole Freedom Fighter uniforms (a lose form of armour and identification).

Bunnie had grown a little taller since the end of the war, and had become a smart woman and an excellent leader. She still looked much like she had at eighteen, one ear drooping whilst the other stood tall. Without her robotisized limbs, she no longer possessed the incredible strength that she used to, yet to remain useful to the Freedom Fighters of Knothole she had poured large amounts of time into extra firearm and hand-to-hand combat training.

She, like the other leaders of Knothole, wore a personalised uniform. It was the goal of the military department of the town-turned-city to create enough uniforms to provide each and every Freedom Fighter with one- but at the moment, they simply didn't have the money to buy the raw materials from elsewhere. There were seven suits completed at this time, six of which had been customised whilst the last one remained unused. 

Bunnie's uniform, like the others, looked like a baggy black jumpsuit with grey flak plates attached so that they would protect certain areas of the body. There was one over the chest and back, one on each forearm to hand like a set of gauntlets, one on each leg from the knee down, and one on each shoulder. Soft-soled boots were worn with them, and the crest of the House of Acorn on the left shoulder pad completed the outfit. The colour of that pad was dictated by who wore it- hers was purple whilst Amy's – who sitting directly across from her in her own uniform – was pink. Sonic's, she knew, was blue. Sally's was red, Rotor's was light grey, and Antoine's was yellow (though he insisted that it was, in fact, gold).

She always felt a bit butch when wearing it, but it kept her safe and in contact with the rest of the group via a radio built into the right gauntlet. It also had seven LEDs built into the left gauntlet, one representing each suit. When one was being worn, and was within a certain range of another, the corresponding light would wink on- in this case, a purple one and a pink one were brightly lit.

The uniforms weren't really huge as armour went. It was actually quite form fitting, aimed for ease of movement. It was just that walking around in it reminded her of her old clunky artificial limbs.

She also felt a bit silly.

By the way Amy was shifting around uncomfortably on her cushioned chair, she imagined that she felt much the same way. 

Amy had grown to become an attractive young woman, having got out of her crush on Sonic many years ago. At 22, she still had her quills brushed back like hair, and it suited her in civilian wear- but looked a bit odd when in uniform.

Over the course of the last few days, Bunnie had come to envy her second companion, a young rabbit who went by the name of Cream. She was only twelve years old, and had creamy fur (which was where her name came from, she supposed). It had been quite a struggle for her to go with them- she had wanted to see some of the world outside of the forest, and had only been able to upon getting the reluctant go-ahead from Princess Sally Acorn. Years ago, Bunnie would have refused to bring her along, but she was okay with it now. It would give the girl chance to learn outdoor survival techniques, which would be very useful should she ever have to leave Knothole alone.

And why did she envy the little girl? Well, because she didn't have to wear this uniform. She had stuck to school instead of opting for training as a Freedom Fighter, so was free to wear and travel in 'civilian' clothing. But, as Amy and Bunnie were representatives of Knothole, they had to be suited up whether they liked it or not. 

"What do you think? Did we do well?" Amy asked as Bunnie sipped her fresh cup of coffee.

"Ah think that we've done the best we can, sugah. Sally-girl will be able to sort the rest out, and get that 'New Mobian Republic' of hers offa the ground," the rabbit replied,

"Won't it be amazing if it all works?" Amy said wistfully, staring off into space. "It would be like Mobius reuniting... We would have finally beaten what Robotnik started."

"And it only took mostah our lives to do it, too."

"Aw, c'mon Bunnie! Sure, it's taken a good few years, but not most of our lives. At least we'd be able to move on."

Bunnie let out a snort, and regarded her friend with scepticism.

"Yeah, but you ain't one to talk Amy-girl. When we get back, I bet you're gonna start mopin', 'cause you don't have a boyfriend yet. Y' can't even got over that."

Amy's face immediately fell as she looked down to admire the surface of her drink. Bunnie had not felt so guilty in a long time, and mentally berated herself for saying something so nasty.

"Aw, I'm sorry sugah... I didn't mean to be nasty or anythin', you know that..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, It's just that..." the pink hedgehog waved her hand, not knowing how to explain what she felt about Bunnie's comment. It was true, she was the only girl her age who hadn't had a boyfriend yet (or a serious one at least), and it had made a severe blow to her confidence.

"Yah miss Tails, donchya."

Her words were not a question, but after a short pause Amy replied nonetheless.

"No. It was a long time ago Bunnie, I hardly knew him."

And it was true, too. She had known him for maybe a few months, and had mostly forgotten about him- all she remembered were his two tails. Despite how many thought that they would have made a perfect couple, she didn't think so- she had never thought of him romantically. 

"Ah miss the little guy," Bunnie said, looking directly at Amy.

"Not as much as Sonic and Sally do."

Bunnie laughed quietly and simply said, "Drink your coffee."

Amy smiled.

"What are we gonna go now, Aunt Bunnie?" Cream asked, looking quite bored. Diplomatic negotiations were not the thrill ride she had expected, apparently.

"We're just gonna finish our drinks, then we're gonna head home, okay sugar?"

Cream smiled.

"So how are things goin' at school? Is Amy teachin' ya well?"

Cream began to nod vigorously whilst smiling in the general direction of her teacher. Amy had always been reluctant to fight, even though she was good at it. To counter this destructive side of her personality, she had become a teacher in the school in central Knothole. Cream was in her class- and, according to Amy, was an excellent student.

She talked for a while about the various things the class had been learning, Amy getting a word in edgeways every so often. Bunnie thought it was amusing, how enthusiastic the little girl was over something as mundane as school.

But, they had to return home- Sally was waiting for their report, and so they did not stay at the bar for long. After leaving, they quickly made their way out of town towards where they had left their transport- and were met with a nasty shock.

----------

"Where is it?!" Amy gawped as she stared at the empty ground before them.

The hover-car was a machine far sleeker than the hover units that Robotnik had used. Painted in a deep forest green, it had two forward facing 'wings' that curved slightly towards the end as though they wanted to touch each other. The cockpit, built behind them and in-between a pair of air intakes, was slightly offset to the left with room behind it for up to six passengers. Structurally, it was quite weak- a direct blaster hit could potentially disable it, but it was very fact and perfect for transporting the people of Knothole.

And this was all well and good, but it didn't change the fact that it was no longer where they had left it.

"Ah don't know, sugar... Ah'm sure we left it here. I'm not goin' crazy or anythin', am I? It was _here_, right?" Bunnie said, whilst scratching her head.

"Yeah!" Amy said. "It was right here! "Blast, someone must have stolen it... Sonic and Sally are going to kill us!"

"Don't worry, Sugar-hog will understand. C'mon, we gotta think of some other way to get back to Knothole. There aren't any 'o those transport links yet, so that ain't an option. An' it'll take days to walk, that's assumin' we go in the right direction..."

"Maybe someone in Chestnut would help us," Cream offered.

Amy frowned. Hover-cars came with a map built into their computers, so they hadn't considered a need to take a drawn one. All they could do is to go and get one using the 'ration money' supplied with each uniform.

Even more annoying- all of their survival gear was inside the machine. They literally only had what they wore.

"Come on girls, let's go and buy some supplies. We'll just have to walk 'till our communicators come into range of Knothole, then call for help," she said whilst pointing to the radio located on her right wrist.

"Yeah, I guess so... But this is strange. Mayor Raid woulda let us know if there were dodgy types around, stealing stuff. Keep on ya guard."

Amy nodded in agreement, and let Cream by the hand back towards the city.

----------

They had chosen a bright and clean travel shop to get their gear titled 'Rodney's Supplies', up near the coffee shop and government building. It was quite a nice place, arranged into sections depending on the items sold there- bags, boots, water-proof coats, and so on. The prices were pretty steep though, so the three had decided to just get a good map and then look elsewhere for the rest of what they needed.

Eventually they chose a map and made their way towards the shop front to pay for it, where they saw a most unexpected sight. An orange fox wearing a worn grey jacket and black boots stood with both hands firmly on the counter, and appeared to be having an argument with the store owner. It wasn't the fancy gold jewelled figurine placed before him that caught their attention, nor was it his chipped left ear and dirty fur- it was the fact that he had not one, but _two tails_.

Surprised, they headed closer. It wasn't long before they could hear what the two were saying.

"Have you any idea how tough it was to get this?" the fox said, apparently in disbelief. "I had to pull in nearly all my favours to just find out where it was! I want 1000 credits, like you said you'd give me!"

"I'm sorry," the raccoon manning the counter replied firmly but calmly, "but this piece is defective. Look, one of the eyes is missing."

"It was like that when I found it, dammit!"

"Then it's not what I asked for, is it? Look Prower, I'm a busy man. 500 is my best offer, take it or leave it."

The racoon produced a small brown bag from under the counter, and sat it next to the statue. The fox stared at the racoon, his eyes boring into him, and said, 

"I don't know why I bother working for you." 

He snatched the bag violently and stormed towards the door. As he did so he bumped into Bunnie, but was so angry he didn't seem to notice. Once he had left, the older girls looked at each other in shock whilst Cream watched the door.

"He was really grumpy, wasn't he Miss Rose!" the young girl said, displaying her opinion to all. Neither Amy nor Bunnie replied to her, remaining silent until Amy said,

"Uh... Bunnie, was that...?"

The rabbit swallowed, then leapt into action. She spun to the shopkeeper.

"Who was that?"

He blinked at the urgency behind her words, but replied much in the same manner as he had to the fox.

"Him? Oh, uh, he's a jack-of-all-trades. Mercenary, treasure hunter, bodyguard... You name it, and he can do it. Goes by the name of Miles Prower." He smirked, and added, "With a name like that, I don't think his parents were all that pleased with him, you know?"

Bunnie resisted the urge to smack the guy for that comment, instead turning and running out of the door, map dropped and forgotten. Amy and Cream followed close behind.

"Is it... Is it Tails?" Amy asked, wide eyed. Bunnie grinned and nodded.

"Ah think so! Which way did he go?"

They looked down the street. Luck was with them- despite his fast pace, they caught sight of his jacket. Without a second thought, Amy grabbed Cream's hand and set off running after a surprisingly fast Bunnie.

----------

Miles was pissed. Oh yes.

Over the past few years he'd done many jobs for Rodney, and almost every time he'd been swindled when he brought whatever item he wanted in.

It was really getting to him. But he dare not cause any trouble for the raccoon, because not only would the local law enforcers come after him, but he'd also be blacklisted by any Chestnut Freedom Fighters in the area. That was something he could do without.

Plus he still paid more than others, even if less than what was in the original bargain. He needed the money too, and fast- he didn't want to be around here when the New Mobian Republic was formed. He'd heard about it, of course (information was part of his job after all- you never knew when some bit of information would come in handy when bartering), and the whole concept disturbed him. Were all of Mobius to be united under a single government... The he'd have nowhere else to go. He was still an exile from Knothole, after all, and to be caught in their territory would be punishable by execution.

This was just his latest dilemma, though. His whole life since leaving Knothole, the little village in the north which was now (he had heard) a not-so-little city, had been spent trying to scrape together enough money to live. For him, it wasn't a case of questioning what he wanted to do with his life- it was a case of questioning where his next meal would come from.

Naturally, he had become somewhat resentful of the people of Knothole, and all under its rule in the Great Forest, living out their cushy lives in safety, knowing that someone will always be there for them. It was they who had accused him of something he could never have done – a twelve year old boy killing _Ari_, of all people – had condemned him to a life in the slums of Chestnut, and who now had the gall to force him away from his home, however grubby it was.

Bastards.

Despite the nice reputation that Chestnut had made for itself when dealing with other nation-states, it was not all it was cracked up to be. Anyone living in the city could tell you that. Built upon the coast, it was divided into four main sections.

First, to the north was the Old Quarter, the oldest part of town. Also known as the Slums, the Rot, Hell, whatever you happened to favour. It was full of paupers trying to make a living, though hampered by thugs, thieves, and gangs. Homes were decrepit and dirty, Miles' flat being a perfect example of this. He was lucky though- he didn't have to sleep with a blaster under his pillow. His reputation kept him safe at night.

The New Quarter in the west was the exact opposite of the Old Quarter- this was where the aristocracy of Chestnut lived. Ambassadors from other towns were usually hemmed into just this area, giving a false impression of the city. Built onto one of the high cliffs reaching out into the sea, the government building was an impressive and imposing sight. Positioned along the way to it were the nice hotels, houses, shops, coffee bars (he couldn't understand the use of 'bar'- where was the beer? Don't bars sell beer?), and so on. This was where Rodney's supply shop was located, mainly dealing in selling outdoors equipment (bags, hiking boots, maps, and the like) with a bit of antique bartering on the side. The racoon was a collector, you see.

Then, in the south was the Works, an industrial zone. Large, dark factories littered the area. Most of the working class from the Old Quarter worked down here, being forced to work in harsh conditions and smelly environments for little pay. Miles had made it a point to avoid the area completely whenever possible. He didn't want to die of lung failure.

East-Town, obviously the most eastern area, was in direct contact with the sea. This zone was effectively owned by the city merchants due to its large and busy seaport and numerous warehouses. It had many back streets and alleys too, making it useful if you were being tailed by someone.

Which was precisely why he was heading there.

He didn't know who was following him. In all honesty, he didn't care either. The crux of the matter was that someone was trailing him, and in his past experiences that had _always_ meant trouble in one way or another.

He didn't understand how he knew they were there. He would have put it down to a combination of his hearing and sense of smell, but it was too accurate to be just that- and besides, this 'sixth sense' had only made itself known after... back then. Like so many other things.

Miles shook his head, refusing to think about those few months so many years ago. He was reminded of them almost every night in his sleep- he wouldn't give them the credit of thinking about them now as well.

Keeping a fast stride, he made his way towards East Town whilst making many twists and turns on the way. His pursuer – pursuers, he corrected, realising that there was more than one – were quick, obviously not caring to be discreet. They would catch him too soon if he were to stick to the main roads, so he followed the back streets as he travelled downhill to the coast.

It wasn't long before he got there.

To be certain that they were still behind him, Miles purposely walked across a metal grate. Thanks to his soft-soled boots, he made very little noise- but those following did not. As they crossed, they made comparatively loud clanging sounds.

Confident that they were there, he abruptly turned into a quiet back alley. It was not as dark as he would have liked as it was only late afternoon, but it was good enough for as soon as he had moved out of their sight, he twisted his two bushy tails together. Flicking them out as fast as he could resulted in a sudden and powerful blast of air beneath him, throwing him directly upwards and towards a high windowsill. He caught it, pulled himself up onto it, and perched himself there like a gargoyle, watching the ally and waiting.

He didn't have to wait long, for soon a rabbit and a hedgehog, both clad in a black and grey uniform of some kind, came tearing around the corner. The hedgehog – a pink hedgehog – held the hand of another rabbit, this one a little girl who looked utterly worn out.

"Oh... shit," he muttered as he buried his face in his hands.

He knew who they were. He recognised the uniform. He'd heard about them frequently by those who travelled from the north and came in for drinks in the bars of the Old Quarter. 

Freedom Fighters from Knothole.

And they knew who he was, he could tell. The way that they were looking around, and how they had followed him right from the New Quarter spoke for itself.

Plus, they were calling for him by using his old nickname.

"Tails! Tails, ah ya here? Please, we wanta talk to ya!"

Ah. That accent. The rabbit could only be his so-called Aunt Bunnie.

_'And 50 credits says that the hedgehog is Amy Rose,'_ he thought, arching his right eyebrow. _'Who would have thought that she would become a Freedom Fighter.'_ He did not care to put a name to the face of the youngest of the three girls.

What to do? They didn't seem to have hostile intent. He could confront them, tell them to go away, and then disappear. He knew Chestnut like the back of his hand- there was no doubt that he could escape if they were to attack him. 

Besides, he had a secret weapon. Well, six very sharp secret weapons, to be more precise.

He didn't want to hurt them, but then he didn't want to die just yet. Not because of something he didn't do.

Silently, and with almost poetic grace, Miles allowed himself to roll forward off his perch. He fell, stretching out and rotating slowly to come down on his feet a short distance behind them, crouching- and yet not a sound did he make. With their backs to him, the Freedom Fighters had no idea that the fox was there, so he stood and waited for them to notice his presence.

He did not have to wait for long.

"Hey! Miss Rose, there he is!" the little girl said, pointing towards him. The hedgehog and the older rabbit whipped their heads around, looking at him in surprise. He stared at them.

"Uh, excuse me, would ya happen to go by the name of Miles Prower?" the rabbit he knew as Bunnie said nervously- as if all her confidence had evaporated. Idly, he noticed that she moved much more fluidly than she used to- he guessed that they had managed to make a de-robotisizer up north. It was the best explanation.

Looking down his muzzle at her, and slowly walking towards them, he said,

 "Miles Prower... Yeah, that's my name." He paused, head tilting forwards so that his brow partially covered his cobalt blue eyes, making him look threatening and sinister.

"And here you speak it as if you know me."

"Tails," she whispered, looking at him in disbelief. 

He was a far cry from the boy she had known, he knew- what with his dirty fur, his newfound height (he was taller than her now), his chipped ear and all that.

"What? Oh, you do know me then?" he said. "I'm sorry, but I can't say that I know you. After all, Bunnie Rabbot, I haven't spoken to, nor seen you for a good ten years. I'm curious, though- why are the Freedom Fighters, and their young accomplice," he said with a glance to the little girl, "so interested in me? I have not stepped into the Great Forest again ever since I left Knothole. I have not broken the exile. So, why have you been following me since we left Rodney's? Did you get bored and decide to come down here to finish me off?"

He waited for their response, his face neutral. Whilst he looked relaxed, he was in fact ready to spring into action at a moments notice. 

One did not mess, nor take chances with Freedom Fighters. It was an unspoken rule. They were highly trained in both hand-to-hand and ranged combat. But not only that- to attack one of them was to attack them all. Though he felt confident that he could beat the two before him, no matter how close it would be, he knew that he would get every single Knothole inhabitant after his blood.

Needless to say, that would not be good.

"Wha- no, of course not! We saw ya in the shop, an' we jus had to find out if it was you! We've been lookin' for ya for years, Tails!"

"My name is 'Miles', Miss Rabbot, not 'Tails'. Tails died a long time ago."

"Okay, Miles... Listen to me, we know that y'all didn't attack Ari, it was one of Robotnik's weird contraptions! We found it, an' Sonic destroyed it!"

"Yeah? Well, that's great, that just fan-bleeding-tastic. It's a shame you couldn't have found that out and come down here ten years ago, when it mattered."

"But we've been lookin' for ya ever since, we wanta' bring ya home."

His eyes bored into her.

"Don't you understand? I was twelve years old, Freedom Fighter. I was still a child. Look around you and tell me, can you seriously imagine a kid making a fair living down here? Where there are _still_ workhouses? Despite what the Mayor Raid might have told you, Chestnut is not a nice place.

"It doesn't matter that I didn't kill Ari. With what I have done around here to survive, I don't deserve to live somewhere as nice as Knothole."

Realising that this line of conversation was getting them nowhere, Amy switched tracks.

"Uh, Miles, you know the land around here, right?"

"Yeah. So?" he replied smoothly, not being taken off guard in the slightest.

"Well, we're stuck down here because we don't know the way back to Knothole. The guy in the shop said that you're a mercenary... Uh, can we hire you?"

Miles looked at her for precisely three seconds before bursting out in laughter.

"Wha, wha? Wait, you, _Freedom Fighters_, want to hire scum like me to take you to _Knothole_?" he managed between his chortles. 

Amy and Bunnie exchanged looks. Cream watched the fox wide-eyed, believing that he was their only chance of getting home.

"Well... yes," Amy said.

"Are you crazy? I have been found guilty of murder by Knothole law. If I go anywhere near Knothole territory, then I can be sentenced for execution. No offence, but I don't feel like dying just because you need someone to hold your hand all the way home."

"But we told ya, we know you didn't do it!" Bunnie put in.

"Really. Tell me, how do I know that this isn't all some elaborate ploy to get me to break the exile so that you can finish me off? I mean, all I'd have to do is enter the Great Forest. Then 'bang!', you could just shoot me in the back. You could say I attacked you, and no one would be any the wiser."

"It ain't like that at all, Tails!" Bunnie snapped, forgetting that he did not consider the old nickname relevant anymore. 

"Maybe. Maybe not. But I think I'll stay in Chestnut for now. Goodbye, Freedom Fighters. Tell Sonic and Sally that I hope they are having nice, comfy lives," Miles said with a sneer. 

He turned and walked out of the alley, back onto one of the many back streets of East-Town, intending to get as far away from the girls as he could.

He didn't expect to feel a tugging on the back of his jacket, though.

Confused, he turned to see who was behind him. He was rather surprised to see the little rabbit standing there, tears in her eyes.

He blinked.

"Please, Mr. Miles," she said, "you gotta help us. No one else can!"

"Look kid," he replied in the most gentle-but-firm voice he could manage, "I'm a busy fox. I don't have time to take you all the way to Knothole and avoid being killed by your Freedom Fighter friends. You understand that, don't you?"

"But they won't hurt ya! Aunt Bunnie said so!"

Maybe it was the way that the fading sunlight caught her fur, making it seem orange. Maybe it was how she watched him with wide, hopeful, and innocent eyes. Maybe it was how desperate she looked. Or perhaps it was how she was only half his height.

Whatever it was, he could only see himself standing in front of him. He'd been desperate when he was young, just like her. The only difference was that he'd had no one to help him. If he made the effort to help someone who was in the same position he had been, then perhaps he could sleep peacefully again, without the nightmares.

Unlikely, but worth a shot.

He sighed, and looked over her head to see the two Freedom Fighters standing only a few metres from them.

"Alright kid. Go to your friends."

She stumbled away from him towards the two older girls, and he followed with carefully measured strides, staring at Bunnie as he did so. When he felt that he was close enough he stopped and said,

"Listen. If I take you to Knothole, I want your word that I shall not be harmed in any way. That includes an allowance to leave as a free man, with all of my limbs and tails intact."

Bunnie began to nod vigorously, a smile on her face.

"I do not want to come into contact with the royal family at any time. I don't want to speak to them, hell, I don't even want to see them, understand?"

Bunnie's nodding slowed, and her smile fell slightly.

"Also, I want to be well paid. 2000 credits to escort you there, plus 1000 more to convince me that it is worth putting my neck on the line by going back there for just the three of you."

"3000?" Amy said, thrown by the high price. "But we only have 500 between us, standard issue for diplomatic missions... and 2500 more, that's pretty steep..."

"Look, do you want me to help you or not?"

"Miles, we can't jus' sneak that much money outta the treasury... Sally-girl would notice right away, y'know?"

A growl came from the back of his throat as he thought.

"How about 2000 total. 500 now, 1500 when we get there. After that, we go our separate ways. I go far away from here, and you never come looking for me. Deal?"

Amy and Bunnie looked at each other, eventually reaching into a pocket on their uniforms and each producing a wad of crisp paper money. Amy handed hers to Bunnie, who than placed it in Miles' waiting hand.

He looked at the money for a moment, before saying,

"Okay. You girls have got yourselves a guide. Meet me outside of Rodney's shop at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late. I'll take care of the equipment, so don't worry about that.

"Oh, and don't stay around here for long, the streets of East-Town get dangerous when the sun goes down. Even for Freedom Fighters."

He turned and began to walk away from them, when Amy shouted,

"Ta- uh, Miles! Where do we go tonight?"

 "I don't know," he called over his shoulder. "Wherever you've been staying since you got here."

"But we left there earlier... They don't have room anymore. We don't have anywhere to stay."

"Ancient Walkers," Miles muttered, making a curse of the words as he looked back at the three. He thought for a moment, then said,

"Come with me, then. I'll find somewhere you can sleep. But don't expect it to be anything like what you're used to, because you sure aren't in Knothole anymore."

With that, Miles Prower set off towards the Old Quarter, three girls following behind him- two of them he'd rather have forgotten about, and as for the other... Well, he wished that she didn't remind him so much of himself.


	3. Sorry about the Mess

Here we go again! 

I'll say not that I'm not very happy at the travelling aspect of the chapter, I think I skipped over it way to fast- I expect I'll come back to it at a later date and add a bit more content to it. But, it will do for now.

This is where the X-Men reference shows itself. One of the scenes is inspired by the first movie too, and it isn't all that hard to spot. I just put my own twist on it.

Well, enjoy, and please review! Thanks to Ice Wolf and asher tye for their comments, they are most appreciated. :-)

Be warned, there is violence in this chapter.

Chapter 3: Sorry about the Mess 

Amy couldn't sleep.

It wasn't because of the dirty room, or how uncomfortable her position was- no, it was because of the fox lying just a short distance away from her.

After their meeting in the alleyway, and the deal they had struck for him to escort them back to Knothole, the mercenary had been annoyed at the revelation of them having no where to stay. His abrupt attitude spoke volumes. 

He'd led them quickly away from the warehouses beneath the darkening sky, going north to an area he called the Old Quarter. The only warning he had given them was to 'watch their step'- apparently, he saw no need in mentioning the attitude of the place. She, as well as Bunnie and Cream were shocked to say the least- the area was foul. She would rather be robotisized than live in a place like this.

The streets were dark due to how the buildings were so close together, and how they were built to be larger from the second floor up- the result was that they made dark, imposing shapes, beneath which in the shadows the cast were shifty looking characters.

Miles had walked between them with ease, having been down here for many years. People appeared to avoid him – as though they were intimidated by him – creating a bubble of safety for which the girls were more than grateful. They were beginning to understand why he was so resentful of them- Knothole was heaven compared to this!

Eventually, their guide turned into a large building and ascended two floors via an old rotting wooden stairwell. The three had followed him up and down a corridor until he stopped before a plain brown door. A key from his jacket pocket was inserted into the lock, presenting them with a dark, dank apartment room. Miles simply walked in as though there was nothing wrong with it, whereas Amy and Bunnie had found themselves holding back tears at his sheer acceptance of it all.

This was his apartment. This was his home. This was his life.

He'd immediately set about gathering a limited number of blankets, throwing them at the girls whilst keeping one for himself.

"Get some sleep, you'll need it in the morning," he had said before dropping unceremoniously onto what looked like an old and damp mattress. Once he had thrown his thin sheet around himself, he'd curled up and simply ignored them, leaving them to their own devices.

For a few moments, they had stood looking at him dumbly. Bunnie made the first move by placing a few of the blankets down on the floor, creating a mostly dry makeshift bed. Cream and Amy had soon joined in, and the three of them had gathered together on them for warmth.

And here she was, waiting to fall into unconsciousness. But she could not- for whenever she closed her eyes, she inevitably found them opening and focusing on the two tailed fox that barely seemed anything like the boy she had known, and had once called her best friend.

"Bunnie," she whispered, "are you awake?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Yeah," came a quiet and accented reply.

"I... I can't believe we found him."

"Me neither sugar... But he isn't how I expected, livin' in a place like this."

"When Princess Sally finds out, I think we can forget about an alliance with Chestnut."

"_If_ she finds out. You know what Tails... Ah mean, Miles said- he doesn't want to see her. Sonic 'neither."

"But... That isn't fair on them. You know how they felt about him... he was like their kid."

"Yeah, but- well, look at this room Amy- he's been livin' here for who knows how long. We can't say that it's unfair to Sally-girl and Sugar-hog, 'cause it's been unfair to Tails to have to even sleep here. He ain't the kid we knew, and we can't take away his choices... If he wants to see them and stay in Knothole, then he'll have to decide that on his own."

Amy nodded, falling silent as she stroked Cream's head fur gently. The little girl seemed to be sleeping with ease. Eventually, she and Bunnie managed to join her. 

But because he was lying with his back towards them, none of them noticed how Miles was very much awake. He'd heard the short conversation in its entirety.

Beneath the fur, his knuckles were white as he clawed at his blanket.

----------

"Amy? C'mon, ya need to get up."

Miles moved swiftly around the room whilst Bunnie attempted to wake the pink hedgehog up, collecting bits and pieces that he thought to be too valuable to leave. After all, he didn't plan to return here anytime soon- no, he would go west once this job was over. He'd be able to start again, in a town nicer than this where he would be able to get a decent job and earn a fair living. Plus, it would be away from Knothole.

He hoped, anyway.

A glance towards Bunnie showed that Amy was now awake also. Cream had been up as early as he, and had been doing her best to be helpful as he got his gear together. She hadn't actually _been_ very helpful, but he appreciated the thought.

His supplies were limited, fitting into just one backpack. They consisted of maps (he had a good number of them charting a large chunk of northern Mobius, from his treasure hunting expeditions), some fruit from the pantry, bits of dried meat left over from the last trip out of Chestnut, a raincoat for bad weather (though he needed to get three more for his employers before they set off), a new compass, some flares, gloves, matches, and a first aid kit complete with bandages. He wore his grey jacket, and had stored all of his money securely in one of the pockets. No one would be touching it- not if they valued the use of their hand.

"We just have to stop by Rodney's before we go, you three might be needing some kind of waterproofs," he said gruffly.

"Ah uniforms will keep us dry if it rains, Miles," Bunnie said as Amy got to her feet and checked herself over.

"Do they have hoods?"

"Nah, but-"

"Then we'll get you raincoats. In my experience, when you don't want it to rain, it doesn't- it pours instead. I'm not going to take any risks here. If I'm going to get my pay, then I need to get you to Knothole safely. And that is exactly what I'm going to do, so please, do as I say."

The Freedom Fighter sighed and nodded in resignation.

"Good," he said, then directed his attention to Amy and Cream. "Ready?"

Amy nodded, still moving slowly due to having just awoken. Cream smiled at him.

"Okay. I just need to give the key back to the landlord."

"You aren't coming back?" Amy asked with a yawn.

"No. I'm not staying around to see the New Mobian Republic Formed. I'm not coming back to this hole," he said, looking around his living space with mild disgust.  "Come on. Let's get moving. We'll get breakfast once we're out of here."

He gestured for the three to move to the door, going out after them. He didn't bother to lock the door, instead heading downstairs and posting the key through the letterbox on the landlord's rotting door. Then the four walked out into the streets, which were much lighter than they had been the night before. Miles led the girls between the houses quickly and efficiently, making his way towards the New Quarter and Rodney's shop as fast as he could manage without drawing attention to them.

Once they arrived there, he bought three raincoats and stuffed them into his backpack. He also got some dried food and nuts, as well as a canteen filled with drinking water. A brief scan of the contents of the bag was enough for him to decide that they were ready- he wasted no time in leading them away from Chestnut, throwing each of them an apple for breakfast only once they had cleared the area.

----------

They travelled directly north for three days, stopping occasionally for breaks. Yet Miles did not appear to share the girls' occasional exhaustion, causing them to wonder- how could a boy who had lived in the slums for ten years have such a high stamina?

Conversations with the guide were few and far between, as he was reluctant to get involved in such an activity in the wild. But Cream had a curiosity about the strange fox- so on the third day she decided to confront him with one of the things the Freedom Fighters had mentioned.

"Why are you a mercenary?" she asked, doing her best to keep up with Miles' swift pace. The fox looked at her out of the corner of his eye, a small smile briefly gracing his muzzle.

"It's the question of bread and cheese," he replied easily.

"...huh?"

"The outside world is very different from Knothole, kid. Out here, your survival relies on money. You need it to get food, it's that simple."

He uncomfortably adjusted his backpack before continuing.

"It's best to do what you're good at, because then you will make more money than if you were doing something you were bad at. I'm good at fighting and I have no allegiance, so I make a good mercenary. It isn't the prettiest job in the world, but it keeps me alive."

Cream frowned at him.

"But Aunt Bunnie and Miss Rose say that you couldn't be a good mercenary, because you don't have any weapons."

Miles' expression darkened, causing the young rabbit to question her choice of words.

"Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there," he said, eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead.

She thought it best not to ask him anything else, so returned to the two older girls behind him.

A few hours afterwards, they were walking in barren, rocky terrain. Not knowing where they were had Bunnie concerned, so she decided to make her voice heard.

"So what's the plan, Miles?"

"To get to the Great Forest as quickly as possible, what else?"

"Yeah, but the route we took down here didn't go through anyplace like this," she said whilst looking at the dusty ground.

"Well, you have some kind of radio on your uniforms, don't you?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I'm guessing that you haven't used them to call for a pick-up because they're out of power."

That was partially correct. They were low on power, so they didn't have the range to call home- but even if they did have the ability, they would have hired him anyway in the attempt to bring him home.

"I'm planning on getting them charged so that you can let your friends know that you are on your way, so that if we are attacked they can come looking for us."

"Wha- attacked?" Amy said, jumping into the conversation.

"Well yeah," Miles said over his shoulder. He had not turned to look at them at all. "It's a possibility, I mean, that _is_ why you hired me, isn't it? You aren't just trying to make me go into Knothole with you, you're expecting trouble, correct?"

There was silence. He stopped, and looked back at them.

"Oh bloody hell," he muttered as he realised that they did not expect an attack. "Okay ladies, this is what we're doing.

"We're heading for Oak. It's a small town, about a day south of the Great Forest, and I know a bar there that has a recharge unit that we can use. You can boost up the batteries on those fancy suits of yours, and then you should be able to call your friends and let them know where you are."

"Ah didn't know there was a town there, Mayor Raid never mentioned it," Bunnie interrupted with speculation.

"That's because he doesn't want you to know about it," Miles replied flatly as he began walking again.

"Huh? Now why should he want to do somethin' like that?"

The fox was silent, pondering how he should word it. He knew Oak very well. He didn't want to go there, but to do so would get rid of any chance that someone like, say, Sonic, would come looking for them in worry. He'd have to be careful how he worded it though- too honest, and they would never go there. Too nice, and the Freedom Fighters would let their guard down. Eventually, however, he said,

"If you thought the Old Quarter was bad, then you ain't seen nothing yet."

----------

The next day, they arrived.

"Alright, here we are. Welcome to Oak. Gangs, thugs, prostitutes and drugs a speciality. Watch yourselves- this place is a little rough. Remember, we are only here to charge your batteries. Nothing else. And I mean nothing, okay? No drinking, no shopping, no chatting- just straight in, and then straight back out. You get me?"

The girls nodded, looking at the town just thirty metres away in wonder. The place, by appearance, did not seem quite as bad as the Old Quarter in Chestnut- however, in Chestnut, the inhabitants did not all walk around with weapons in plain view. Also, the females did not wear clothing that was designed to appeal directly to any males in the vicinity.

"This is how things are going to work. I'm going in first. I'll head to the bar, where I will go in like any other patron, order a drink, then sit where there is a good view of the area. Five minutes after I have left you, you're going to follow me into the bar, ask whoever is behind the counter where the charger is, and then go to use it. Don't worry about where it is- I'll be able to see you, and I'll keep you covered. Got it?"

The girls nodded again, watching him carefully. Cream was getting worried at how serious he appeared.

"When going around, do not look at **anyone**. And I mean that- you do not focus your attention upon anyone except for the guy in the bar. This is not a nice place. If you look at anyone else for more than a moment, and they notice, they will either think that you a), want drugs, b), want a fight, or c), are offering them sex. People work in gangs around here- if you get into a situation, you will never have just one opponent.

"Look confident. Look calm. Look like you know what you are doing. Oh, and keep a hand near your blasters, but don't look like you have an itchy trigger finger. If anyone approaches you, you ignore them regardless of what they say or do. If they are persistent, let them see the Acorn Family Crest on those uniforms of yours. They probably won't come near you though, so don't worry- those suits are known by just about everyone. Only a gang member who is very brave, or very stupid, attacks a Freedom Fighter of Knothole." 

He paused to make sure that they understood what he was trying to tell them. In this town, it was very easy to get yourself killed- and no one would care. It was the local law that only the strong survived. Chestnut had, in the past, attempted to take full control of the village but found it to be more trouble than it was worth. They left it alone now- it was safer.

He'd have avoided the place entirely, if he could. However, he couldn't deny the pressing need that he did not want to see Sonic or Sally, and to avoid them safely he had to let them know that their friends were on the way home safely. He didn't want to be caught by a search party.

Why Oak, though? Well, because it was the only town for miles that he knew had a compatible charge unit.

"The bar is called 'The Emerald'. You'll find it by following this street to the end," he said whilst pointing in the right direction, "and then turning left. It will be about fifty metres away on your right. When you see it, go straight there- do not dawdle, understand?"

When they nodded, he steeled himself to go through this town once more. 

"Hey, Miles?" Amy said nervously. 

He looked at her with a single eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to be okay on your own? If this place is as dangerous as you make it out to be then-"

"Don't worry about me," he said, cutting her off. "If anyone tries anything like they did the last time I was here, I'll be sure to show them why it's best for them to leave me alone."

"A gang attacked you?" Her eyes widened. "Might they attack again?"

Miles cracked his knuckles, as though he were illustrating something.

"Nah. I think I made my point." He paused. "I'll see you in the bar. Five minutes, any longer and I'll be right back out and looking for you. Oh, and one more thing- I don't care what you say in your transmission, but don't mention me.

"Here, take this." 

He tossed his backpack to Bunnie.

"Remember, five minutes."

He turned away and headed into the town, keeping his eyes straight ahead of him and not looking back as Amy set up the digital timer on her left gauntlet.

----------

A mug of ale in his hand, Miles dropped down into a darkened booth in the corner of the bar, and waited.

It was not long before the three girls entered, moving as he had instructed. They made their way to the bar, spoke with the barman briefly, who gave them a blocky contraption with a pair of wires sticking out of one end.

It was then that things began to get out of hand, for Cream was becoming a bit too inquisitive, looking around at other patrons. It wasn't long before she caught the eye of a group of five hyenas, all dressed in similar leather jackets.

Miles swore under his breath, and hoped that they would not do anything rash.

Unfortunately, things did not go quite as well as he had hoped.

----------

"Back off laughing boy, or I'll give you a hole to match your mouth," Amy said threateningly whilst pointing her blaster at the large hyena who had moved up to them. The canine smirked at her.

"Aw, come on ma' dear, put down the gun. I ain't gonna hurt ya!"

"Well you're right about one thing. You aren't going to hurt me, nor my friends here, not if you value your life."

The ganger kept his grin, slowly moving away from her and towards four more of his kind. She watched for a moment, then holstered her weapon and looked to Bunnie.

The rabbit had plugged the two wires into the left wrist of her suit, and was adjusting the radio hurriedly whilst the energy was available.

"Hey, Rotor, ya there?" she said, speaking into the small microphone on the gauntlet.

There was static for a few moments, but suddenly a voice exploded from the nearby speaker.

"Bunnie, is that you?"

"Yeah, you betcha sugar!" she replied happily, pleased to hear a familiar voice. "We've just got the chance to call you to let ya know where we are."

"What happened? You should have been back here two days ago at the latest, Sally's worried sick!"

"Don't worry yourself, we're jus' fine. We got into a spot 'o trouble with the hover-car, but it's sorted now- we hired a guide to get us back safe 'n sound."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that you're okay. I'll pass it along so that the folks in charge hear. And a guide, huh? Who is it?"

Bunnie looked at Amy, who just looked right back.

"I don't care what he said, we have to let them know that we found him."

The rabbit nodded.

----------

From within the shadows in one corner of the bar, Miles watched the situation with growing concern.

The little girl, Cream, was getting into quite a spot. And it wasn't her fault either- the Freedom Fighters had obviously not noticed that the hyena was just one member of a group- the group which was watching the three girls with hungry eyes.

When they got up and began to walk towards Cream, he decided to make his move. Carefully he made his way towards them, idly brushing his knuckles as he did so.

----------

"C'mere girlie," the gang leader said as he grabbed Cream. She stumbled as he pulled her forward, and cowered at the manic gleam in his eyes and the tobacco stench of his breath. 

Amy and Bunnie whipped away from the radio, looking up to see the gang bearing down on them. Both reached for their hand blasters, resting in their holsters on the right hip of the Knothole uniform. But they didn't quite make it in time, as two hyenas from the gang stepped before them, their own blasters already drawn and aimed. The girls froze.

A voice came from the radio,

"Bunnie? You there? Bun-"

but was cut off abruptly when one of the gangers pulled the plugs.

Cream began to panic when she saw the weapons pointed at her two friends. She felt utterly useless, until she remembered about their guide- he had said that he could fight, perhaps he would help!

It became clear that he had already answered her unspoken plea, however, as a new and quickly becoming familiar voice came from behind the hyena who had grabbed her.

----------

"Excuse me, sir, but can I ask why you are so desperate that you need to mug a child?"

Miles glared at the back of the hyena who all but ignored him, simply saying,

"Get lost boy, this ain't none of your business."

He could see Amy and Bunnie out of the corner of his eye, standing utterly still due to the blaster muzzles pointing at their faces. Making a mental note of where two of the gang members were, he ground his teeth together in frustration- this was not going to be pretty.

"I'm making it my business," he said.

The hyena looked to one of the members of his gang, nodding once, then pulled out and opened a flick-knife. Amy cried out despite the gun in front of her as the canine spun towards their guide. But he was ready.

Miles' left hand shot out past the hyena, grabbing his right arm and pulling, effectively forcing him to continue to spin. Caught off-balance, the gang leader could only stumble back at the quick and sharp push that the fox added, throwing his back up against the wall.

The hyena had murder in his eyes, until an orange furry fist moved up to a horizontal position near his face. With simply a pulse of thought, pair of blades – easily a foot long apiece – shot through Miles' fur from the spots between the far left and right knuckles with a explosive metallic hiss, fanning out very slightly to touch either side the hyena's neck. Then, from between the two centre knuckles, a third deadly sharp blade slowly advanced, only stopping when the tip touched his throat.

The girls watched the scene in shock, momentarily thinking that Miles had been injured- but they quickly realised that the blades, only very slightly curved, were a physical part of his body- he had absolute control over them. What was just as frightening though, was how his fist bled profusely from where they had emerged, as if they had torn clean through his skin to be revealed.

As bad a spot as this was, things quickly became a lot worse. The gang member who had been aiming at Amy stepped away from her and redirected his blaster to be touching Miles' temple.

"Step the hell away from him, freak!" the hyena ganger said in a nervous voice.

Miles resisted the urge to simply cut the bastard up right now, knowing that if he did he'd be gunned down before he could get out of the way. Besides, there was still another gang member with a gun pointed at Bunnie and Amy, his aim switching every few seconds. He'd have to be careful.

_'C'mon Miles, you've got out of worse situations than this!'_ he thought. _'Even if you did lose part of your ear in the process...'_

Slowly, ever so slowly, he moved his right arm away, though the centre blade moved to its full length as he did so. Then he turned to look at the ganger holding him at gunpoint, who gestured to the floor with his blaster. He complied, slowly kneeling down before him, then making to lie down on his front.

That was when he acted.

With incredible speed Miles' left arm positioned itself vertically over the hyena's foot, activating all three blades on that limb in the blink of an eye. They punched down through the foot and into the floor, causing his opponent to scream out in pain. But he didn't give him the opportunity to remain like that for long, as he leapt up, withdrawing the blades from the ground, and plunging his left set into the canine's belly. The right set, still extended, came up through the chin and into the brain, killing the ganger instantly.

With the body hanging from all six of his 'claws', he swung it round with all the ease of a rag-doll to form a shield against the next hyena, the one who had been until recently pointing his weapon at the Freedom Fighters. Seeing his friend being stabbed nine separate times and promptly killed in less than two seconds had caused the young member to turn and open fire at the fox, blowing holes into the back of his dead team-mate. Miles opted to give him a closer look at the body, dumping his shield by throwing it away from him and directly into the ganger, knocking him off his feet.

The gang leader had by now recovered and attempted to stab Miles in the back with his flick-knife, but the fox had felt the rush of air indicating movement and twisted his body so that the blade _just _missed him. In an answer to the attack, he made one full revolution by spinning on the ball of his foot, bringing the left set of blades to cut neatly across his opponent's neck. That same set then reversed their direction as he stopped, and punched into the leader's chest as the large hyena grasped at his slit throat.

His left blades still impaling his dying opponent, Miles leapt into the air to deliver a vicious kick to the fourth member's face, flooring him. Pulling the left blades from the now-dead leader allowed him to grab the flick-knife from the leader's limp hand, and the fox tossed it almost casually so that it made a fatal stab on the downed ganger.

The fifth charged at him with all the grace of a freight train, swinging a club wildly. Miles ducked, quickly thrusting both fists up once a swing had passed over. All six blades impaled the large hyena in the chest, and he used the momentum the bruiser had developed to throw him over his head as he rolled back and into the wall.

Miles was on his feet in an instant, his eyes flicking to his last target. The youngest ganger, the one who had been shooting at him, had untangled himself from his dead comrade. With a look of terror, the boy ran from the bar.

The mercenary watched him go, deciding that the fight was now over. 

----------

The Freedom Fighters, with Cream now by their side, had watched Miles with a mixture of shock and horror. The two tailed fox stood in the centre of the where the carnage had taken place, looking around the room slowly as though he were using it to make a point. Eventually, his gaze settled upon his three employers, to whom he cocked his head slightly.

Cream was simply terrified. Amy felt sick when she saw the way that blood from the gang stained lines of his fur crimson. Bunnie felt like crying as she finally realised that this fox was not the Tails she had known. 

He was a sight indeed- arms at his sides, he looked relaxed and ready to move at a moments notice. Much how, they realised, he appeared back in the alleyway a few days prior. Occasional dots of blood could be seen on his jacket, being more prominent on the pale fur on his face. His eyes were cold and hard, the cobalt blue orbs boring into them, giving the impression that just behind the mask of his indifference was a storm of activity.

Most disturbing of all, however, were the blades protruding from his hands. They were stained with blood, and it was clear that not all of it was from his defeated opponents as more ran freely from the gaps through which they had emerged.

With nothing more than a slight jerk of his arms, the total of six blades withdrew up through his fists and into their housing within his forearms, the only sound to accompany the movement being another metallic hiss. As soon as they had gone, he turned away from the stares of the Freedom Fighters and other bar patrons, making his way to the exit of the bar. Pausing briefly, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out one of the wads of money that Bunnie had handed to him back in Chestnut, throwing it casually to the bar owner at the counter.

"Sorry about the mess," he said, and was gone.

The girls stumbled after him, avoiding the blood on the floor.

----------

An hour later, Miles, Amy, Cream and Bunnie were jogging through the rocky terrain north of Oak. The group had been silent ever since leaving the town, partially due to necessity (Miles had declared that they should be as quiet as possible just in case anyone was following), and partially due to simply not knowing what to say. After all, it isn't an everyday occurrence that one sees someone ejecting blades out of their hands and using them to deadly effect.

After numerous concerned glances behind him at the youngest member of the group, for Cream was lagging behind, Miles broke the silence.

"We can rest here."

He stopped underneath one of the few trees in the area, gesturing for Bunnie to throw him back his backpack. She did so quickly.

"But... What about that gang? You said it yourself earlier, there were only five in the bar, and one of the got away," Amy said whilst neatly avoiding what had happened to the other four. "What if there were more? And what if they're following us?"

"There probably _are_ more. But they won't be following us."

"How do you know?"

"Because I'm an optimist," he said flatly.

Amy sighed as she watched him sit cross-legged near the tree, rummaging through his bag.

"Miles, that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Really?" he said in mock surprise. "Fair enough."

He produced a roll of bandages, and began to wind them around his left hand. The bleeding from between his knuckles had stopped already- quite a feat, considering what had happened to them. Neither of the Freedom Fighters knew what to make of it all, and Cream was too scared of the mercenary to go anywhere near him.

"Tails, sugar," Bunnie said, making use of his old nick-name in the hope that he would react well to it, "Tell us... What are those things? Why have you got knives in ya hands?"

"You mean these?" he said, balling his right hand into a fist. With a hiss, the three chrome blades punched back out through the skin between his knuckles. He lifted them up, moving them around so that they could be seen clearly.

The girls were silent, looking at them in shock. Abruptly, they snapped back into his arm, and he continued to bandage up his left hand. 

"What... How?" Bunnie gasped.

He stopped, sighed, and closed his eyes. He said nothing for a long time, but eventually he summed it all up in one word.

"Robotnik."

Once more, they were at a loss for words. Annoyed by the uncomfortable silence, Miles reached into his backpack and produced four apples.

"Here," he said, throwing one to each member of the group and keeping one for himself. "Don't be scared of me. I've had them for at least nine years now, and I'm not about to lose control of them. Now, eat up. We'll rest here tonight."

The silence fell again, but Miles was too annoyed at life in general to bother to take it on again. And it remained unbroken too, until the sky had darkened to a deep black and the Freedom Fighters had fallen asleep beneath the tree. He had decided to stay awake as a lookout, and it was then that he saw Cream looking at him with a mixture of fear and wonder.

"What's up, kid?" he asked, keeping his voice low as to not wake the two older girls.

"Um... Thank you for protecting me, Mr. Prower," she said. He waved her comment off.

"Think nothing of it. I'm getting paid for it, remember?"

"Yeah, but... You coulda been killed."

"Heh. That's happened many times. Usually by thugs, but sometimes..." he shrugged, casting a casual glance over to the sleeping girls.

"Did... Did Aunt Bunnie and Miss Rose once try?" the girl asked, wide eyed.

"Yeah, kind of. Once. Well, they did there best not to actually _kill_ me, but... sometimes I wish they had."

"Is that why you don't like them?"

"Nah. Not really. The reason that I don't like them is because I was your age when they allowed me to be put on trial for murder."

"So you are a murderer!"

He looked at her sharply at that comment, causing her to move back.

"No. I wasn't at the time. But now, I think I am, if you want to put it that way. I do kill- you saw me do it earlier today. I assure you though, I only do so when I can't see any alternative."

She looked at him warily.

"That gang?" he said. "You know that they would have killed you if given the chance, don't you?"

She nodded.

"Well then. If I'd let them go, then they would have just come after you later. At least this way, anyone else on their side will think twice about chasing after you."

The girl bowed her head.

"Listen kiddo," he said honestly, attempting to put genuine warmth into his tone of voice, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just doing my best to protect you, and do you know why?"

She shook her head, looking up at him.

"Because I want to. Because it's the right thing to do. As much as I dislike your companions, I'm not going to let an innocent little girl be hurt for something she didn't do, okay?"

He held his hand out to her, and smiled. She liked that smile- it was a nice smile.

"So, are you gonna accept me? Can I be your friend?"

Careful of his hand, for she knew that there were blades beneath the skin, she ran forward and hugged him. He chuckled.

"Alright, come on then, sit down."

They sat on the ground near the tree, both now acting as semi-distracted lookouts.

"So, Cream, come on- tell me about yourself. What's school like?"

She happily went on to tell him all about herself, which he found amusing and enjoyable. It was nice to hear about someone with such a nice and straightforward life, so unlike his.

He smiled softly he watched her talk herself off to sleep.


	4. Warrior

Alrighty, one more chapter done. Be ready for more violence folks, because it's coming thick 'n fast. 

Thanks to all you who have reviewed so far, I appreciate it!

English Bloke, yes, I am a Brit! How did you guess? :-)

Chapter 4: Warrior 

A day later, they were nearing the Great Forest. It could be seen whenever they reached the crest of a hill, bringing a feeling of relief to the three girls and one of foreboding to their guide.

The sky seemed to reflect the mercenary's mood, being a depressingly dull grey. The air felt moist to him- yes, it would rain soon. Annoying as it would be, at least it would divert the girls' attention from him for a while.

Miles was holding up incredibly well. Still not tired, and his knuckles had almost completely healed thanks to another one of Robotnik's... gifts. He did not bother wearing the bandages anymore, because he didn't need them. 

In the back of his mind, he knew that his employers were watching him with confusion- he couldn't blame them, to be honest. He'd be freaked if someone like Sonic had pulled the stunts he just had, and he knew that he hadn't even been pushed to his limits yet. It was all thanks to those few months of hell, when he had been 'upgraded', as Robotnik would have said, in numerous ways. Despite how they had preyed on his mind for every moment of his life since then, he had to admit that they had their benefits.

For example, they had allowed him to detect the presence of Amy, Bunnie, and Cream when they were following him back in Chestnut. They had allowed him to slaughter the gang in Oak. And they also allowed him to feel when he was being scanned, which was what had happened about an hour ago.

He was sure of it.

Someone had been watching them, be it with eyes or with radar. Either way, the fact alone that they had been spotted was a cause for concern to him. He could only think of two groups that it could be, and both were as bad as each other- if it were the ruminants of the gang from Oak, then they would have a fight on their hands. If it were scouts from Knothole, then it would be difficult to get his pay whilst avoiding Sonic and Sally.

Not willing to take the chance that they would be hostile, he decided to be prepared for a fight. He needed the money from this job, after all. Plus he had promised to look after Cream.

Not pausing in his fast stride, he reached over his shoulder and into his backpack. He brought out the raincoats from Chestnut, and threw one to each of the girls.

"Here, put these on," he said.

"What, is it going to rain?" Amy asked, looking at the sky with a frown.

"I think so."

"Well aren't you going to put something on?"

"No," he said shortly.  
  
"Well why not?"

"Because I fight better without waterproofs."

There was silence for a moment.

"Miles, what's that supposed 't mean?" Bunnie asked. "Are we gonna be attacked or somethin?"

"I don't know. Something was watching us a while ago, and I don't want to risk being caught off guard by them. Get those blasters of yours ready."

Small droplets of water began to fall from the sky.

----------

"Miles! Ah think ah know who's watchin' us!"

The rain was by now pouring down in thick and heavy droplets. Clad in the raincoats they had bought from Rodney a few days before, the girls were quite dry- Miles, on the other hand, was soaked, tired, and thoroughly pissed off. He would be wearing his coat of course, were it not for the fact that he was _certain_ that something was watching him in one way or another. 

Not with their eyes per se, nothing would be able to see them through this rain without the use of, say, a radar or special camera of some kind. Either way, it was worrying. Gangs from Oak did not have that sort of technology. If someone was watching, then they were going to be pros.

"Who?" he asked with a glance back at Bunnie.

The rabbit smiled under the hood of her raincoat, rolling up one of the sleeves and pointing to an array of lights on one of her suit's forearm gauntlets. Six were brightly lit, clearly visible in the thick and heavy rain- purple, pink, blue, red, white, and yellow. 

"So?" he said, wiping water from his eyes. "What are they supposed to mean?"

Bunnie was about to speak again, but was interrupted by a sudden loud squawking from her wrist-mounted radio. A voice burst from the static,

"Bunnie! Are you okay?!"

"Wha, Rotor?" she said, blinking in confusion at both the unexpected voice and the panic that it held. "What's the mattah?"

"Don't worry, we know about the Cyborg! Sonic's on his way, hold on!"

"Wha, what are ya talkin' about?"

"He's coming to you now, I've gotta cut transmission before it picks up on it. Just hold on!"

The speaker abruptly silent, and the girls looked up at their guide. He had turned very pale beneath his fur, and he appeared to be shaking.

"Miles?" Amy said, looking at him carefully. "What's going on?"

He looked away, towards where they were supposed to be going. Suddenly a blue blur approached from that direction, growing closer at an alarming rate. Eyes widening in recognition and disbelief, Miles stood and looked at it dumbly until it rolled into a ball and slammed into his stomach. He flew back with a grunt, sailing clean over the Freedom Fighters and continuing on down a nearby short rocky incline until a tree violently stopped his ride as he smashed into it, splintering it into matchsticks.

He rolled to the floor, too dazed to move. It didn't cross his mind that the blow ought to have killed him.

The rain poured down relentlessly upon the two-tailed fox, staining his jacket brown with mud and blinding him of the immediate area. It took a minute, but eventually his head stopped spinning and he was able to drag himself back to his feet. He staggered for a moment, blinking black spots from his vision as he got his bearings and let out a few of his favourite curses.

By the Walkers, Sonic was here.

"Miles! Miles, are you okay?" a high-pitched voice came from the direction he had come from, soon followed by a panicked and raincoat-clad Cream. 

"I'm alright kid," he growled, taking note of a sharp pain on his forehead. He touched his hand to it and brought it away, noticing with a scowl that there was blood on his fingertips.

_'Best bud my arse,'_ he thought darkly in relation to the blue hedgehog. Some friend he was, leaving him to be tortured and forced to live on the streets when he was only twelve-

Abruptly, his thoughts ceased when he smelt something even _more_ alarming. There was the metallic scent of machines in the air, machines he thought he'd never sense again.

_'Swatbots?!'_

But there was another scent, one he had never picked up before. It hinted at something familiar and comforting, whilst at the same time being utterly terrifying. He was stunned, lost in thought, just like when Sonic had attacked him- and because of that it was almost too late when he realised that a sharp electrical bang signalled that something very bad was about to happen.

He threw himself to the side, jarring his head painfully as he hit the mud once more. His usual response of curses were lost to him when a red laser-like bolt flew through where he had been standing, colliding with the remains of the tree he had partially destroyed. The stump exploded, throwing the remaining fragments all over the place.

Miles wiped the rainwater and blood from his eyes as he leapt to his feet, scanning the area for the threat by making use of his heightened senses. He began to feel slightly ill when he realised that, despite everything, he couldn't find his opponent (or opponents) anywhere.

Lucky for him, that didn't stay an issue for long as a dark shape soon made itself known, walking slowly towards the fox. It moved fluidly, clearly marking it as an organic creature- but that wasn't the whole story. Along the right hand side of it's head was a box-like structure, a tube emerging from the front in the manner of a gun barrel. A pair of tubes came from some device built into it's back, merging into it's arms blocky, gauntlet-like forearms at the elbow. He couldn't see anything else in detail- except that where it's eyes should be were burning red dots in pitch-black sockets.

It could only be a Cyborg. A complete one too, Snyper class if his memory served correctly. The fact alone that it was working indicated to Miles in big, glaring, neon letters that he was at a real disadvantage- he'd thought that the Freedom Fighters had destroyed all of the finished units when they had sacked Robotropolis. If this one had lived through it, then it would be very cunning, quick, smart, and dangerous.

It was a tough challenge, but Miles was able to calmly sum up his opinion on this unfortunate turn of events in one, small, simple word.

"Shit."

He threw himself to the side again, just avoiding another bolt of red energy from the Snyper's head mounted blaster, and as soon as he rolled back to his feet his arms flew out to his sides to allow his claws to extend. A metallic ring signalled their presence to the world.

He was about to move towards the enemy with the intent of eliminating it as quickly as possible when he was stopped in his tracks by an unexpected occurrence. From it's own forearms, positioned so that they would be flat against the back of it's hands extended a pair of foot long sword-like blades. It waved them around, looking for all the world like it was actually holding two swords, moving smoothly into an en-guarde position. 

Tails wiped the water from his eyes once more, attempting to see past the almost surreal film-like quality that the rain projected. It was with annoyance that he realised that he was not seeing things, the Snyper had indeed been upgraded- the default model had guns in it's arms, not swords. He knew that this really cut down on his chances- he didn't have a hope at long range, and it was likely that the programming in the computerised portion of the Snyper's brain would include numerous forms of martial arts. All he had was extremely limited Freedom Fighter hand-to-hand combat training, and the experience of fighting against gangs in places like Chestnut.

Not good, but he'd be damned if he was going to let this thing hurt Cream.

He'd heard of the theory that attack was the best form of defence. This seemed as good a time as any to give it a shot.

"Cream!" he yelled, "Run!"

He glanced away from the Snyper to see her run off towards where she had come from, soon disappearing in the rain. He wasted no more time, throwing his weight forward and charging the Cyborg with a roar.

----------

"C'mon, we gotta juice!" Sonic shouted, doing his best to get through to the girls. They were staring at him stupidly, to which he frowned. It was _raining_ after all, a hedgehog couldn't look his best ALL of the time-

"Wait Sonnie, we can't go!" Bunnie spluttered, looking in the direction that he had sent the Cyborg.

"Wha? We have to go _now_! That thing will be back any minute Bun, and you need to be coverin' me with Sal whilst I kick it's metallic butt!"

"Sonic no," Amy said, franticly looking around and doing her best to ignore how cool the blue hedgehog looked in his Freedom Fighter uniform. "You don't understand, you didn't attack a Cyborg... I don't think you did, anyway. We've got to make sure that he's alright!"

Sonic blinked and was about to ask what she meant when his arm radio burst to life.

"Sonic! Wait, hold position! We've got a situation here, we're coming to you!" came a female voice, one that he would recognise anywhere.

"Sal? What's goin' on?" he said in reply. He was getting frustrated at all of this, because he knew that there was a Cyborg in the area yet everyone was being so slow about reacting to it. Didn't they realise how dangerous those things were? They simply could not waste any time about it. He had a good mind to go and fight it right now-

"Wait, where's Cream?" Amy said, sounding panicked.

"Huh?" Bunnie gasped, looking around. "She wa' with Miles!"

"Oh no," Amy whispered, barely audible through the rain.

Sonic was, by this point, very confused. 

"Miles? Who's Miles?"

"Miles! Miles Prower!"

Sonic froze completely. Miles Prower? ...Tails? Tails was here?

Suddenly giddy excitement, he didn't notice the approach of the task force of Freedom Fighters from behind. They had come down in this direction to find Bunnie, Amy and Cream after the radio call yesterday- it had sounded as though they had been attacked, so immediately scouts had been sent to find them. Their scanners had picked up a Cyborg, which was strange as they had supposedly all been destroyed- still, the three girls, though highly trained as two of them were, were no match for such a machine. 

Sally had wasted no time, personally leading the task force consisting of three other leaders – Sonic, Antoine and Rotor – plus six young and new Freedom Fighters. They had set up this ambush, and waited.

As soon as Nicole had detected the Cyborg, he had attacked. The girls were here, of course, but he had seen nothing of Tails. The scouts certainly hadn't mentioned him.

"Sonic!" Princess Sally said as she ran up beside the blue hedgehog. She looked much like she always had, wearing as always her favourite blue jacket over the top of her Freedom Fighter uniform. It was common for them to customise their uniforms- he himself had dropped the standard boots in favour of his classic red and white trainers.

"We have to pull back, Nicole's detected two Cyborgs, plus what looks like a division of Swatbots!"

"Huh? Aw jeez, we gotta get movin'! Bun, where's Tails?!"

"Ah dunno-"

"What? Tails?!" Sally said, forgetting about the impending attack of machines for the moment as personal and maternal instincts took over, "What about Tails?!"

Sonic didn't get chance to answer, as a French accented voice interrupted.

"Ma' Princess! L'ook out!

Sonic could see the change in Sally as she switched back to Freedom Fighter mode at Antoine's voice.

"Quick!" she shouted, "Everyone get into cover! Incoming from the west!"

They dived behind nearby rocks as a wave of tracer blaster fire came in, the rest of the task force members fanning out and finding their own forms of cover. They drew their weapons, mainly consisting of blaster rifles, and began to fire back towards where the swatbots were thought to be.

Sonic thought franticly for something to do that would get them out of this, and to find what the deal was with Tails. He'd thought that the kid was dead, but if he was alive... Then he and Sally could be happy again.

He didn't carry a blaster due to his distrust of technology, so he couldn't join the firefight just behind the large rock he was using as cover. If he could flank the machines though, then he could use his spin attack to cut them down...

Yes, that would work. He could do it! After all, he was Sonic the Hedgehog!

"Sal," he said to the leader of Knothole just by his side, "I'm gonna go round 'em! Keep those 'bots busy!"

He got ready to run, not bothering to wait for Sally's confirmation.

"Help!"

He blinked, standing down from his plan of attack at the voice. Looking towards it revealed the little rabbit he knew as Cream, running up from behind the defensive line to him in fear.

"What's wrong?" he shouted above the noise of the blasters and the rain.

"Miles is being attacked by something! You gotta help him, Sonic!"

"Mile- Tails! Where is he?" he said as the faint sound of clashing metal filled the air.

Sonic could see Sally move up to the girl out of the corner of his eye, waiting eagerly for an answer.

"He's down there!" the rabbit said, pointing towards the edge of a rocky incline. The clanging of metal got louder- sounding like swords, Sonic noted in the corner of his mind.

A figure jumped up over the edge of the incline, stumbling as it turned to face away from the Freedom Fighters. It fell onto it's back, raising it's arms above it so that the fists touched. Completing the vertical 'x' shape were what appeared to be a number of claw-like blades protruding from between the figure's knuckles, their chrome surface standing out brightly through the rain.

A second figure jumped up from the incline, landing in a much more skilful manner than the first and bringing down a pair of sword-like blades of it's own. They fell between the first's, stopping at the point where they crossed over with a loud clang.

A battle of power began between the two as Sonic, Sally, and Cream watched in surprise. The figure with the sword-blades was pushing it's weapons down to the other's throat with all of it's strength, whilst the warrior on the floor was doing it's best to keep the enemy away. Desperate, the floored combatant kicked out with it's legs, catching the standing figure off guard and sending it tumbling to the ground.

The figure with the claws pushed away and got to it's feet with notable trouble, wavering as though a little drunk. With it's back to them, it got into a fighting stance, putting it's left arm straight out in front whilst the right came up to protect the face. It was only then that the rain allowed the figure to become fully visible, as it's two wet yet bushy tails waved behind it to assist with balance.

For a moment the commanders of the Knothole Freedom Fighters were stunned into silence. But it didn't last for long.

"Tails? Tails!" Sonic and Sally shouted.

His head whipped around to look at them, water drops flying from his head fur and muzzle as he did so. Blinking to force his eyes to focus, he looked at them blankly. As soon as recognition hit, his blue eyes widened and his jaw fell in what could only be described as fear.

They simply stood and stared at each other.

Suddenly, the other shadow-like creature came up from behind Tails, bringing one of it's blades across in a wide sweeping motion, clearly aimed at taking off the fox's head.

"Look out!" Sally screamed.

Tails instantly turned back towards his opponent and ducked to try to avoid the slash, but he was not quite fast enough to get completely clear. Sonic could only watch as the tip of his right ear was sliced off, and he cringed as the fox cried out in pain.

An explosion came from the other side of their cover, and frantic calls came from Sonic's radio. He was caught off-guard, unsure of what to do- save the Freedom Fighters around them, or save Tails from the shadowy Cyborg.

He looked to Sally for help.

"Take out the Swatbots, I'll help Tails," she said, a look of icy resolve in her eyes. 

Sonic nodded, and raced off to deal with the machines.

----------

Miles felt sick.

He _knew_ he should never have taken this job- it was sod's law, the ones that sounded easy were always the hardest. He should have known that this one would go wrong at the last minute, when they were just a few hours away from Knothole.

It had been his plan to wait at the border by the Great Forest, letting the three girls go on to the town to get his money. Then one of them would return, and he would be paid- they could go their separate ways, and he would never have to see them again.

But _no_, that would be too easy. Not only would he be thrown into mortal combat with a far more capable warrior than he, and not only would this fight happen around a skirmish between Knothole Freedom Fighters and some old swatbots, but he'd have to get – quite literally – thrown at Sonic and Sally.

He couldn't identify the feeling he had when he saw them. He certainly didn't like it, that was for sure; it was like a mixture of raging anger, utter fear, burning jealousy and a powerful need to run away.

Not knowing how to react and what to do about it, he'd hesitated and lost part of his ear as a result. The follow through kick had sent him careering back into the rock that his former parental figures had been using for cover, then to the muddy, rocky ground. He was bleeding, he was stunned, he had a headache. And he felt the most incredible urge to vomit.

The Snyper was charging now, he could see, but not at him. It had apparently forgotten about him, favouring the woman who he had once seen as a mother. She was shooting at it with her blaster, but he knew that she would not hit it- Snypers, whilst not designed for hand-to-hand combat, had enhanced reflexes as a standard instalment. She could fire rounds at it all day, but it would simply dance through the hail of energy and remain unharmed.

Lucky for the princess, he'd been given that modification too.

His hand searched the ground beside him for something of use, and he found it- a stone, fitting neatly into his palm. With incredible speed, he sent the stone flying faster than the eye could see towards the Snyper. Being so set on avoiding Sally's blaster, it didn't see the small projectile and so had no chance to avoid it- the solid orb struck it on the side of the head, causing it to falter.

Miles saw his chance.

Making a great effort, he leapt to his feet and charged, catching the Cyborg with all six of his claws in the chest just a moment before it was going to strike the princess.

The thing stopped, fatally wounded, looking up at the mercenary slowly. It was then that he finally saw it's face, and it's identity.

"...Shadow?" he gasped at the sight of the older yet still familiar black and red hedgehog who, though briefly, had been his friend in the bowls of Robotropolis... Ten years ago.

Despite the fact that the hedgehog had a gun protruding from the side of his head, and that it oddly hadn't fired at him, Miles completely forgot the fact that what had once been a friend was now a Cyborg. He looked at the hedgehog's blank face in horror, quickly retracting his claws back into his arms in the hope that he hadn't killed his friend. Meaningless words of apology came to from his muzzle, but it was all quite pointless... Because the Cyborg was not dead.

It stepped back, as lithe as it had been since the two had begin this battle, snapping the fox back to reality. And as the biomechanical creature continued to look at him with empty eyes, Miles could see the holes he had made sealing themselves, new skin weaving together over them. In less than three seconds, the Snyper had completely healed itself.

Miles stared at it, completely dumfounded. He'd had no idea that some Cyborgs were able to regenerate _that_ fast. The early models, he knew, had no healing capability beyond that of the host species. That had been until Robotnik had begun playing about with genetics- increased muscle mass, faster growth, greater intelligence, the man had done it all until he had come to the issue of altering healing rates. Yes, healing had been a different matter altogether.

He could remember being strapped to the operating table when his transformation had begun. Through the stale air and bite of the leather straps around his wrists and ankles, he could still hear Robotnik taking great pleasure in telling him what exactly he was going to do. The madman had brought up how all of his previous experiments had gone insane when he had increased their metabolism naturally, so he was going to try out something new on him when the time came and he was big enough... the use of machines, housed inside his soon-to-be-replaced bones that would rebuild him, were he to be injured. 

Miles knew that he had been lucky- it was that particular 'gift' that had allowed him to escape, but Robotnik must have learnt from his error and improved on the old formula. Shadow had a far superior healing capacity, that much was obvious, so not only was the hedgehog a better fighter than he, he was also nearly impossible to harm.

Yep, his earlier use of profanity was definitely seeming appropriate right about now.

He looked to Sally, who was watching the two warriors with wide, frightened eyes. Just looking at her caused the feelings to rise up within him again, yet he knew what had to be done. She was more important than he was, and she was more deserving of life too.

"Take her," he said with a nod towards Cream, "and run."

Waiting for confirmation was unnecessary- he did not care, because he knew just one thing that might be able to hold his old friend off long enough. It was a rare tactic for him as he disliked the thought of losing control- but if he was going to die, then he'd do it trying to save lives, whoever they belonged to. 

He channelled the feelings of fear and jealousy from earlier, combining it with the horror and anger of what had happened to his friend at Robotnik's hand, into a searing, burning hatred. In their cell in Robotropolis, Shadow had made a deal with him- if one of them were to become a Cyborg whilst the other lived, then the survivor would do whatever he could to free the victim from his mechanical bindings.

And that... That was exactly what he would try his best to do.

With a yell of defiance he fell into a berserker state, extending all of his claws and leaping at the Snyper with supernatural speed. The only thing on his mind was the need for blood.

----------

Never before had the Freedom Fighters witnessed such a display of rage and savagery.

Tails threw himself at the Cyborg, showing no regard to his own safety as he hacked and slashed without mercy. It was frightening then, Sally thought, that none of his strikes actually landed on the thing as it danced away from him.

Clearly, he had changed over the last ten years. One did not have to be a genius to work that out, even with the rain partially obscuring her view. The boy she had thought of as her child would never have fought in this manner- she would have thought that he would have developed his skill with computers, or perhaps become a mechanic like Rotor, but the way that he ducked and weaved through the Cyborg's counter strikes with incredible agility screamed that something unnatural had happened to him to make him into this warrior.

She guessed that the knives coming out of his hands had something to do with it.

She watched the two, afraid to fire at the Cyborg in fear of hitting the fox by mistake, as they moved around and out of the cover of the rocks and into the firefight. And yet they kept duelling, appearing to move out of the way of stray blaster bolts before they could hit them. 

She hoped and begged that Sonic would soon step in and save the boy, both from the enemy and from himself- the look of rage on his face, sharp teeth bared and cobalt eyes wild, was perhaps the most frightening part of him. But it was not to be, as the hedgehog was busy destroying the humanoid machines.

Besides, he was already too late as the Cyborg made a sudden jab with it's left blade. She gasped as it went clean through the fox, tip protruding out of his back.

Tails howled in pain, falling to the ground with the sword shaped blade still in him.

----------

Pinned to the ground by a foot length of cold steel, Miles felt well and truly screwed. His shoulder where he had been stabbed was throbbing in rhythm with his pulse, which had become incredibly loud to his ears all of a sudden. Fighting his way through the pain with a great effort, he managed to say what seemed so appropriate to them both just as Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Amy, Antoine, and a number of younger Freedom Fighters came into view at the corner of his eye.

"Y... you were right," he said, coughing up blood and staining his teeth and muzzle crimson. "You said that we would never be free of him, and... you were right. You were right."

He began to giggle hysterically at the sheer lunacy of it all as he let his claws retract; he was about to die at the hands of his half dead friend, he was in this state because of people from Knothole of all places, and it had all been because he'd wanted to leave Chestnut. It seemed like the Walkers themselves wanted him to stay in that filthy town, punishing his defiance with death.

But Shadow did not make to kill him.

Instead, the Snyper brought up a hand and placed the palm over the small, well-hidden circular patch of fake fur above Miles' left eye. He could feel something suddenly poke out of it, punching through the material and into the metal plug socket that it hid.

White-hot pain filled his world and he briefly managed to let out a strangled cry of agony, as his whole brain seemed to be set into a blazing inferno- 

And then there was just shadows and silence.

He welcomed the blissful fall into unconsciousness, even though he didn't feel worthy of it.

----------

It's job done, the Snyper leapt away from it's target, merging back into the shadows from whence it came. It left it's prey behind, not dead; no, the plan dictated that it be alive for now. It had been that way for over ten years. It was necessary.

But not for long, the Snyper mused, watching the Freedom Fighters gather around the twitching, incomplete, and imperfect Spyder.

Not for long.

**Note:**

I get the feeling that some people are going to hate me for how I'm using Shadow, so I'll try to explain my reasoning for it. Firstly, his name and appearance makes him perfect to be the Snyper android (he's dark, shadowy, etc). Second, he's the 'ultimate lifeform', right? This way, he pretty much is an 'ultimate lifeform', even if it means that he has robotic implants to be that way. Finally, he's a baddie in Sonic Adventure (I'll admit I have never played the game, but I have read about it), and in this story, he is a baddie also. I'd say more on that, but it would give away the plot... -_-

Anyway, please let me know your thoughts!


	5. A Living Machine

:-D Thanks for the nice reviews everyone! Y'all have given me an enormous boost of self-confidence with this story, so I'm quite certain that it will carry through to the conclusion comfortably. This chapter was difficult, mainly because of the amount of speech, but it's done now. I get the feeling that one conversation is far too short- but that will be fixed in the next chapter, so don't worry. :-) 

Anywho, I present chapter 5. Please review!

Chapter 5: A Living Machine 

If Doctor Quack were to describe Knothole's main hospital, located close to the hospital grounds, 'sterile' would definitely be it. The walls were pure white, and the atmosphere was one full of antibiotics- a far cry from the hut he used to operate in before the fall of Robotnik. He had been disappointed at the move at first as he missed the character of his hut, but there was no getting in the way of progress. 

After Robotropolis had been destroyed, the population of Knothole had skyrocketed due to the huge amounts of Mobians being de-robotisized. The town had quickly grown to a city, but as new buildings were constructed every effort had been made to keep the defensive capability of the Great Forest intact. No buildings reached over the canopy, and were all coloured in natural hues so that they were very difficult to locate. Even such large buildings as Acorn Palace, where the royal family now took residence, was invisible unless one knew where to look. 

The hospital shared a similar tactic of concealment. Built both above and under ground level, it looked like any normal hill from outside. Get closer, and you could see windows cut into its sloping sides.

But despite this covering of grass and soil, it was still very artificial inside. White, the colour of death- white, for the dying. 

Quack was tired, the result of a long night-through-days work. It was late afternoon now, through which he had spent hours working on Tails, putting together the report the royal family had requested on the boy. He knew better than to put it off, as it wouldn't be wise to make Sonic angry at him- and he knew that would happen if there was a delay. Proof was in the panicked way the hedgehog had burst in through the main door yesterday evening, carrying the battered and bleeding form of a familiar two-tailed fox in his arms.

He'd always rather liked Tails. He had been a good kid, remaining wide-eyed and innocent despite the fact that Robotnik had killed his entire family before he had got to know them. Always cheerful and optimistic, would never have hurt a fly- one of the many reasons why he had laughed at the idea of him committing Ari. 

As soon as the boy had arrived, he'd been moved to the operating theatre where the doctor had done everything he could to stabilise his condition. As it turned out however, he didn't really need to do much except to replace some of his lost blood and supply some greatly needed nutrients for his skinny frame.

As soon as he had noticed the giveaway signs of Robotnik's work in Tails' body, the team operating on him had begun to sum up exactly what had been grafted into his body. The results were slightly disturbing to him, yet on the other hand were hopeful- after all, Tales had not become a drone like the others of... his kind. He was most unique.

Though the corridors may have seemed endless to anyone else, to him they were simply a nuisance, placed between him and his destination, which was in this case one of the lecture theatres used normally to address trainee nurses, doctors, and surgeons. Today, however, it held a somewhat more famous group. As he walked in through the double doors located at one side of the stage at the front before the stepped seating dragging his old briefcase as he did so, he eyed the group sitting near the front, doing his best to ignore the tense atmosphere. There were two big issues right now for them to face- the sudden return of the fox who was considered collectively to be their child and his rather unnerving developments, as well as it being in synchronisation with an attack. It was all rumours at the moment for none of the Freedom Fighters had officially given anything away, but it was thought that they had been attacked by a force of Swatbots. They hadn't been seen active since Robotnik was in power... 

Quack was seeing a link. He was hoping that he was wrong, and there was evidence against it, but Tails could have a hand in their operation... After all, both he and the robots were very much 'constructed' by the now-dead dictator.

Still, he had to concentrate on his report right now. The leaders of the Knothole Freedom Fighters wanted to know everything they could about him before the council meeting this evening. In the theatre there was, of course, Princess Sally Acorn dressed in her casual wear of blue boots and jacket. Her fiancée, Sonic Hedgehog, sat on her right with his arm around her in a comforting manner. Bunnie was there too, as was Antoine, Rotor, and Amy, all in casual wear also. They were watching him carefully.

And that made sense, he supposed. They all had strong relations with Tails, or at least some regret for allowing him to leave. Even Antoine, who had assumed him to be guilty at first, had attempted to make up for it- sometimes he told bedtime stories to the kids at the palace orphanage school in which Amy worked, and most of them involved a heroic character named 'Tails the Fox'.

He placed his briefcase on the desk at the front of the room and turned on the nearby computer console. It booted up quickly, and he searched for records under the name of 'Prower, Miles'. It was barely a few seconds until he found them, but he did not open them, instead opting to turn to the assembled group and begin to give his account.

"Your Highness," he said with a bow to Sally, "I have the report you requested at the ready. With your permission...?"

"Yes, proceed please, doctor Quack," she said nervously. He took a deep breath- this wasn't going to be easy.

"Subject: Miles Prower. Age: 23. Species... Well, There's no getting around it, so I'll just come out and say it. I'm sorry Sally, Sonic, but Tails is closer to being a Cyborg than a normal fox now."

"Wha, what do you mean by that, doc?" Sonic spluttered. "If he ain't normal, and he ain't a Cyborg, than... what is he? He's still got his mind, right, I mean he _is_ still Tails, right?"

Dr. Quack sighed, trying to straighten out his thoughts.

"He shows the signs of a product of Robotnik, but on the other hand there are quite a few inconsistencies with what we have seen before. I'll try to explain.

"Alright, first... what has been added to him. As you can see from this x-ray," he said whilst waving his arm to the image on the monitor, "his bones are almost a solid white. This immediately interested us in the operating theatre, so we looked into the wound, and there we caught a glimpse of one of his ribs. It wasn't white like you'd expect bone to be; instead it was a very shiny chrome. We followed it through with more x-rays, and the results all point to him having a fully metal skeleton. Now this isn't uncommon in the old Cyborgs, it appears to be one of the first instalments that Robotnik made- however, after stitching the cut we noticed that the later pictures showed something we had never seen before.

"We had...white 'dots' converging around the wound. No one knew what they were, so we opened him up again and checked for anything unusual. Eventually, nurse Katrina noticed that there were silver grains moving around- around the wound, you understand. Tails was stable, so we stood back and watched what they were doing."

He paused, trying to form the words of what had soon seen happening. It was so incredible, so _new_ that he had a hard time expressing what a discovery it was.

"They were healing him. Completely. I don't know how they worked, but they were like little machines, breaking down old tissue and restructuring it where it was most needed. Within two hours, it had healed completely, with only a faint scar to show for it. At this very moment, whilst he remains unconscious, he is perfectly healthy. The only thing that shows he has been in a fight is that the tip of his right ear is missing- but other than that..."

The doctor trailed off, looking around at the stunned faces. They seemed to leap out from the pure white walls at him, demanding information.

So, he continued.

"Moving on and taking into consideration of your accounts of the fight the other day, we observe signs of the more common features of the Cyborg models. If I'm correct, then muscles have been given an artificial boost, making him stronger than what you'd expect. Also, his nervous system has been enhanced, increasing the accuracy of his senses- hearing, smell, touch and so forth. These two combined mean that he has faster reflexes than the rest of us- the senses to know something is going to happen, and the strength to move fast enough to react to it. But, like I said, we've seen this sort of thing before.

"All the models we have seen so far from records and plans in Robotropolis have had some combination of weaponry built into the body. Tails is no exception, though he is one of the few armed exclusively for hand-to-hand combat."

He pressed a button on his console, changing the wall display to an x-ray image of a forearm and hand. Within, placed between the solid white representation of his bones, were three lines that almost touched in a point just in front of the elbow.

"Six very sharp retractable blades – three in each arm – or you could call them claws I suppose, made from the same metal as his bones. They are positioned in the forearm and are operated by what appears to be pneumatics. Note the three pistons running down the length of the bones. The x-rays of his body show wires running next to his nervous system and to his brain, for control no doubt.

"His brain is where things get really... interesting, however."

He touched the button on the console once more, and the x-ray changed to a front view of Tails' skull. It looked relatively normal except for the left eye, in which a bionic construction was clearly visible.

"He has a bionic eye, as you can see here. Unlike previous models, however, this one is not external- it is built in and around the eye socket, linking up to a small hard drive behind. I think the idea is that it is to be used as a recording device, a camera if you will, whilst doubling up as an actual eye for Tails to see though."

"But when we were with him, he looked completely normal... Shouldn't a mechanical eye look out of place?" Amy asked with a frown.

"He's got a fake covering, like a really big contact lens. We temporarily removed it to make sure that the x-rays were correct, and he does indeed have a mechanical eye beneath it. It's a bit creepy to see actually, reminds me of Robotnik's eyes... All black, with a small blue lens in the middle. It probably glows when he's awake, it would be just like Robotnik to add a feature like that... For intimidation, you see.

Anyway, as I said, this is where there is something very strange. Every single Cyborg I have studied has had part of their brain computerised, so that they can be programmed and still retain natural movements to carry out their task. Tails, however, does not have this- it appears that a great part of the computer section hasn't been installed. There is a socket here," he said whilst pointing to the spot above the mechanical eye, "probably through which he would have been programmed- but after that there is nothing, except here..."

He pointed between the eyes on Tails' x-ray, where – barely visible – was a solid white box shape.

"A hormonal restraint. Every Cyborg had them. They are designed to stop the body releasing chemicals that trigger emotional reactions- love, anger, fear and so forth, but if anything that I have heard from Amy and Bunnie is true than it isn't working." The doctor looked at the girls. "You said he got angry in Chestnut, correct?"

"Yeah, he was being sarcastic 'n everythin'," Bunnie said.

"Cyborg's aren't supposed to be emotional, if they were than it would be harder for Robotnik to control them. If Tails is having emotional reactions, then it means that his restraint isn't working. They are usually linked directly to the computer portion of his brain, but the x-rays show no computer.

"This brings me back to my original point. He has features of a Cyborg and Robotnik's signature is all over him. However, things like the lack of a computer and the behaviour that Amy and Bunnie mentioned rule out the possibility that he _is_ a Cyborg."

"So... What exactly is he then? What's happened to him?" Sally asked quietly.

"That isn't an easy question to answer, Sally," Dr. Quack said gravely. "You see, as I have just stated he has many artificial implants, done with such skill and ingenuity that only Robotnik could be responsible. But there are flaws which could have easily been fixed in his design.

"Okay. He has a metal skeleton, retractable blades in his arms, a bionic eye, an improved metabolism so that he heals quickly, and (supposedly) enhanced muscle tissue and nervous system. But the brain, as I have stated, has barely been touched- the only artificial connection to it is from the bionic eye, and as far as I can tell that is just to allow him to see out of it."

The doctor looked around the group slowly, taking note of their expressions- on the whole, they looked both interested and confused.

"This means," he continued, "that he is able to think for himself. He can do whatever he likes, he is a sentient being. Robotnik was not trusting enough to allow one of his creations to be independent, especially one who was undergoing Freedom Fighter training, which leads me to believe that Tails is... incomplete."

"What? Why would've 'Buttnik let Tails go part way through? That doesn't make any sense!" Sonic said with a frown.

"Yes, I agree," the doctor spoke with a nod.

"Maybe he lost interest in the lil' fella," Bunnie said.

"I don't think so. He'd have simply killed him if that were the case. No, what I think is that he takes on from Sonic and escaped... before the process was finished."

"There are a few features that support this theory. For example, his armament- you've seen him use these claws, and by the sounds of it they are in pristine working order. I expect that the same method of keeping him healed is also used to keep the blades sharp and ready. And this is all well and good, except for one thing. There are no holes in the skin between his knuckles, only scar tissue. It appears that whenever he 'fires' these claws, they have to punch through his skin, which as I'm sure you can tell, must be very painful. He'd lose blood from them this way too, so they are actually somewhat of a double-edged sword.

"If Robotnik had been able to complete him no doubt this problem would have been resolved as soon as possible, and all it would have taken was to cut and prepare openings for them. Nothing too difficult."

There was a thoughtful silence. 

"Could you do that for him?" Amy asked. "So that it doesn't hurt anymore... He's been through enough already."

"It's already done." The doctor said, smiling slightly. "We cut slits in the skin between his knuckles, so he'll be fine to use them now."

"So how long has he had these, uh, features?" Rotor asked.

"He mentioned having the claws for over nine years, so it must have been within a year of leavin' Knothole "Bunnie said. The doctor nodded at her.

"That would make sense. You see, the claws are each around a foot in length. They would not have fit into Tails' arms when he was still a child, so he would have had to have grown very quickly to be legible for the alteration by Robotnik before the final attack on Robotropolis. We know for a fact that Robotnik worked out a way to increase the speed of aging, and Tails shows all the signs of it- worn and poorly grown fur, skinny appearance, and besides he just _looks_ tired all the time. Even when he's unconscious.

"This, of course, affects his lifespan drastically. The records from Robotropolis show that Robotnik only wanted the subject to grow to an adult stage as fast as possible, little else mattered to him. This uses a great deal of the body's capability, so it cuts down on life expectancy- I think that it's reasonable to say that Tails will pass away at around 35. That's not counting his regenerative ability of course, but I have no idea what effect that will have, if any. Like I said before, it's a feature which I have never seen before."

"This regeneration," Sally said quietly, "was there anything about it in the records taken from Robotropolis?"

"I checked," Quack said grimly. "There's absolutely nothing. I tried to find if he matched any of the classes that Robotnik designed, but the only one anywhere near was the Chymeleon. And Tails can't be one of those, because he's missing the metal tail and blaster... The only information about him available to us is in his head." He paused, and briefly rubbed the feathers between his eyes.

"That's about all I can tell you."

"Is there any way he can be de-robotisized, 'jus like ah was?" Bunnie asked.

"I'm afraid not," Quack answered, bowing his head. "Cyborgs are not created like the drones from robotisization. The only parts of Tails that have been robotisized are his bones, and then they have been altered to accommodate the claws and such. De-robotisizing him would cause all kinds of chaos in his body, and would probably kill him.

"But, when you consider what has been done to him... He very much is all you could want from a fighter. As cruel as it sounds, it would be better for us if he were to stay as he is and join the Freedom Fighters. He would be a great asset."

Bunnie's expression immediately moved to one of anger.

"Yah mean like ah was? Like a tool, huh? Only useful 'cause of his claws!"

Quack winced at her verbal tirade.

"Bunnie, please..." Sally said, interrupting the argument before it could really begin. "I... I won't force Tails, but I'll try anything to convince him to stay."

"How about just recruiting him into the Freedom Fighters?" Sonic said. There was a moment of silence as Amy and Bunnie looked at each other.

"Sonic... Ah don't think that would be as easy as ya seem ta think," Bunnie responded sadly. "When we met up with Tails in Chestnut, he had some real problems with Sally-girl and y'self. He said he didn't want to see either of ya, and he'd only show us back here if we promised that he wouldn't."

"Nah, that isn't Tails! He's my best bud, he wouldn't say something like that!"

"But he did, Sonic," Amy pointed out. "He isn't really 'Tails' anymore. He called himself Miles, and has some real issues with you. He got really angry whenever we mentioned you or Sally... As if he blames you for what happened."

"No way! C'mon Sal, let's go and see him now, he might have woken up if he's healed already."

---------

The first thing he felt as he returned to consciousness was pain from a blinding white light. He groaned, lifting an arm to cover his eyes as he blinked them open, and attempted to get his bearings.

The walls were a painfully sterile white. The ceiling was a stale grey. He was lying on a soft bed with white covers.

It could only be a hospital.

He lifted himself to a seated position, looking around as his eyes adjusted- the light came from the setting sun through an open window past the foot of his bed, as did a soft breeze and faint aroma of vegetation. Various charts were pinned to the walls, and another three beds were positioned around the room. 

'Yep, definitely a hospital.'

Having observed his surroundings, his brain switched to the second stage of recovery- had he healed?

Yes, it appeared so. No pains, no blood, and the familiar aching in his bones was there, a trace from the healing nanobots returning to their housing in his metal skeleton.

Now if he could remember why he was here- ah yes, they had been attacked by Swatbots when nearing Knothole. Shadow, his friend-turned-Cyborg had engaged him in combat, had one, and... let him live.

The fact that machines had attacked was an alarming thought, accompanied by a still-working Cyborg (which should have been impossible). But that was overshadowed by something which, to Miles' mind, was even more terrifying- they had been close to the Great Forest when he had been knocked out. Sonic, Sally, and other Freedom Fighters had been there. And now he was in a hospital, the nearest of which to where they had been was in Knothole.

He began to get a sinking feeling. Deciding that it was perhaps a good time to leave, he swung his legs across the side of the bed and reached for his old jacket, neatly folded and placed on a small desk nearby.

Unfortunately, a nurse entering the room quickly cut off his escape.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked sharply.

He stared right back at her whilst pulling on his grey jacket, standing against the hostility in her voice. The nurse, a ginger cat, was standing with her arms crossed with a fake smile plastered on her face. Her eyes were completely different, however. He knew that look- he had seen it whenever someone realised that he wasn't normal, that he was actually part machine.

It was a sad thing. Mobius had stood united against Robotnik, but as soon as the war was over petty differences between people had become more and more obvious. The most extreme was between normal Mobians and the minority group of Mobians with mechanical limbs or bodies because of robotisization. The people in power usually didn't seem to realise it, but not everyone could afford de-robotisization. Those who couldn't were dubbed 'mechs' by the normal people, and became the new targets of racism. You'd rarely see a mech with a decent job, or being treated well by an everyday norm. 

"Just wanted some fresh air," he growled in reply to her question as he pulled out the IV drip from his left arm.

"I'm sorry sir, but you have to remain here for now. Princess Sally has ordered that you are kept under protection until further notice."

The words sent alarm bells ringing in his head. If Princess Sally had ordered this nurse to make sure he stayed here, then that meant that he was Knothole. And the Walkers knew, he did not want to be in Knothole.

"Alright, well I'll just open this window then," he said with a fake smile whilst moving to the window. Ignoring the nurse, he slid it further open all the way, leaned out and breathed in deep of the evening air.

Miles waited, and after a few moments he heard the door close. A glance confirmed that the nurse had left. Deciding that this was probably going to be his best chance, he jumped backwards over the window ledge whilst willing his claws to extend. 

As he punched them into the wall just below the window, abruptly halting his fall, a number of odd things presented themselves to the fox. Firstly, the wall was very slightly tilted forward and was covered in grass, like an artificial hill. He was only about two stories up, and could see that his room had been on the top floor.

The second thing was that his fists did not hurt. And they weren't bleeding, either. With a frown, he pulled out the right one and retracted the three blades, looking over his knuckles with a critical eye. He could see three slits in the skin, just beneath his fur- and those had definitely not been there when he had last checked.

It clicked to him then, that the Freedom Fighters had operated on him. That would explain these 'gills' between his knuckles, as well as the looks that the nurse was giving him.

They knew that he was a Cyborg.

He growled in anger, and forced himself to focus on the present. No use in devoting attention to the fact that most of Knothole would now consider him part of an oppressed minority, no, better to work out a way to get out of here as quickly as possible. But what about his payment and equipment? This was not going to be easy-

"Tails!"

The shout of his old nickname caught him off guard. His back automatically straightened, throwing his weight back and neatly sliding his left set of claws out of the grassy wall. 

With a cry he fell backwards to the courtyard of the hospital below, only just catching himself with his tails before he made painful contact with the ground. A flick of them was al that was needed to spin him to his feet, crouched and ready for a fight.

Six Mobians looked at him in surprise at his rather unorthodox entry. It seemed to him like his luck hadn't changed- who else could they be but the leaders of the Freedom Fighters, and of Knothole itself.

He felt he could face just about any horror in the world, could take on machine and organic creature alike without a problem, and he had put up with a horribly unfair life until now to prove it. But the one thing, the only thing in all of Mobius that he was utterly afraid of was this- facing his surrogate parents.

'C'mon, you've faced Bunnie and Amy, you can do this...' he thought whilst gritting his teeth. He bowed casually, even though he felt most uncomfortable, and gave a greeting whilst pulling all of his claws back into their housing.

"Highness."

It was quite an effort to shop shaking when Sally smiled widely.

"Tails, you don't need to call me that! And I'm glad to see that you're up and about so quickly-"

"With all due respect, your highness, it is only right that I call you by your proper title."

Sally stopped short, looking at him in confusion.

"Ah'm sorry Miles, we tried to tell them," Bunnie said, looking at him guiltily.

"W- huh?" Sonic said, looking quite confused.

"This was never part of the deal, Rabbot. In fact, I recall it being part of the deal that I would _not_ be put in this situation."

As always happened when he thought of Sonic and Sally, those who were almost his parents, the fear quickly gave way to a strange anger. 

It was their fault that he had become this... thing.

"I want double the rates. No, make that triple. And don't start giving me that shit about them noticing it's gone from the treasury, because they damn well know that I'm here now."

Sally looked shocked. "Tails! W-what, watch your language!" she spluttered.

"My name is Miles, your worshipfulness. Use it." He turned his attention back to Bunnie. "6000 credits, and then I leave."

The leaders stood looking at him in shock, all except for Bunnie and Amy. They had seen this coming. He could tell.

Amy took that moment to intervene, defusing the hostile situation as quickly as possible.

"It's getting late, and we have the meeting soon, right?" she said, looking directly at Bunnie. "I'll take Miles to his room, you guys go and get ready."

"Uh, yeah, c'mon Sally-girl, let's go. We can talk to Miles later, when he ain't so tired," Bunnie said whilst pulling on the princess' shoulder. Amy meanwhile didn't waste time, dragging the fox away and across the hospital courtyard. He followed willingly, glad to be away from the Freedom Fighters.

--------

Amy led him to what was apparently the royal palace, a large wooden structure that was even bigger than the hospital. Despite this it was not so tall that it would protrude above the canopy of the forest, which was quite an impressive feat as far as Miles was concerned.

The two made their way through the palace corridors on the second floor with surprising speed. Amy obviously knew where she was going, whilst Miles had to admit that he didn't have a clue... This was all new to him.

"You didn't have to be so mean, you know," Amy said quietly. "Have you any idea how worried she's been about you?"

Miles growled behind her back.

"I know, it's just..."

He trailed off. How could he explain what he felt? It was as if there were two people in his mind, one who was guilty and the other who was angry. Getting a straight thought about them out without falling from one to the other was as difficult as reading a book and giving an entirely different speech at the same time.

"Will you make up with them?" she asked.

"Don't count on it."

She rubbed her temples in frustration.

"This is your room," the pink hedgehog said abruptly, as she stopped and opened a wooden door on her left. "It's one of the rooms designed for students attending the orphanage school downstairs."

"This is a dorm room?" he said with a frown. "I'm going to be living around students?"

"Yeah. They... Their parents were all Freedom Fighters, some died against Robotnik and some against gangs after the war ended. The youngest is only eight..."

"Cream lives here, doesn't she," he said quietly. It was a spot of annoyance for him that, whilst he was hardened to the world form his past experiences, he still had a soft spot for kids. Especially orphans, like himself.

"Her room is just down the hall. I'm sorry, it's all we could get you on such short notice- all of the other rooms in the palace are being used. But look on the bright side, at least the kids like you."

He blinked. "Huh? ...they do?"

"Yeah. Cream's been telling them all about you during lessons." The pink hedgehog grinned at him as he walked into the apartment room. "She just wouldn't stop talking today, always saying what a hero you were and how she knows that you're going to be okay soon. I'm starting to think that she has a crush on you." 

He groaned, causing her to laugh. 

"You really live up to Antoine's stories as far as she's concerned."

"Antoine's stories?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder. She followed him into the room. "What stories?"

"Sometimes in the evening I ask him to make sure that the kids have gone to bed, and some of the younger students ask for stories. And, well, you know how jealous he is of Sonic. He just can't tell a good story about him, so he made up adventures starring you, 'Miles 'Tails' Prower' instead."

Miles didn't know how to react to that. To be honest, he'd never spent much time thinking about Antoine- the coyote annoyed him too much to do so. He had rarely thought about his childhood here for seven years at least, for whenever he did he felt an incredibly strong flux of bad feelings like jealousy, anger, and resentment, and he didn't like it because it felt a little unnatural to him. After all, he did not hate any of the inhabitants of Knothole. To be perfectly honest, he was terrified of them, especially Sonic and Sally. The thought that he had disappointed them (and he knew that they would be disappointed with him if they knew of just a few crimes he had committed over the last few years) made him feel queasy and frightened, it filled him with regret- but then, his pattern of thought would take a sudden, almost inevitable twist. It was _their_ fault that Robotnik had caught him. It was _their_ fault that he had been forced to live on the streets of Chestnut. And it was _their_ fault that he was now part machine.

The anger from that realisation always took over him, just as it had earlier. The only use that it had was to take away the guilt for being a disappointment.

He decided not to respond to Amy, and instead looked around the room. It was certainly an improvement over what he had in Chestnut- two nice, comfy beds (obviously students were expected to share), dry wooden walls, a green carpet, large window, desk and chair, radio, even a small bathroom through a door near the entrance. There were wardrobes and cupboards too.

Obviously, the royal family spared no expense for these kids. And this was only a spare room. The reason for it was quite clear to Miles though, they wanted the orphans to be loyal to the crown alone. They were all destined for high places among the Knothole hierarchy, such as diplomats, governors, even Freedom Fighter leaders.

Miles knew he wasn't the smartest of people (after all, he had never finished his education), but he could put two and two together. He did not trust Knothole Freedom Fighters at all, and that included Amy, who was currently standing behind him. Odds are that he could easily be given a room elsewhere, away from these... 'trainees', but of course if he were then he would not be influenced by their school-disguised training. 

_'Figures'_, he thought darkly.

"So? Will you be alright in here?" Amy asked. He glanced at her.

"Yes, this is fine. After all, I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Uh... You can't go tomorrow."

He turned to glare at her. "Why not?"

"Sally has ordered a lock down because of the machine attack, no one goes in or out of Knothole until she gives the word that it's okay."

Of course, the machine attack. And with what they knew, odds are that they'd think that he had something to do with it.

"Do... You know anything about why we were attacked?"

Bingo.

"No, I don't. You Freedom Fighters should be more worried about that than you appear to be, you know."

"There's a meeting to discuss it in about half an hour, I'm going in a few minutes."

"When will Sally let me leave?"

There was silence for a moment. That was all the answer he felt he needed, but Amy replied anyway.

"She will probably keep you here as long as possible, what with how intent to leave you are." 

Amy was silent, and he watched her carefully. He could see emotions running through her eyes.

"Goodnight Miles. Sleep well."

He nodded and turned away as she made for the door, but she paused for a moment before she got there.

"I'm glad you're back here now, Tails," she said. He guessed there was some meaning behind what she had called him, but he did not care to work it out right now.

He heard the door close behind him, and let out a sigh when he guessed that she had left the area. There was probably a camera around, watching what he was doing, but he was too tired to deal with it right now. So, he dropped onto one of the beds and got under the covers, savouring the comfort and warmth that it offered. After all, it had been a long time since he had gone to sleep in a real bed, and not just woken up in one.

But he was not looking forward to tomorrow.


	6. Isn't this what you always wanted?

Well, this chapter was really tough to write. Getting Miles to act the way I want him is pretty difficult right now due to... Well, you'll see in chapter 7, but the point is that I spent a good few days thinking about it. Hopefully, it works for you guys. :-) 

I'd like to say thanks for all the really nice reviews that you all have been giving me. It's a real boost, especially since this is my first Sonic fic. I got all of the ones that did not show on the review page too, so thanks for all of them- especially to those who reviewed numerous times to make sure I got them! :-D

**Asher Tye:** Don't worry, there is plenty more to come yet. ;-)

**English bloke:** The idea of the Cyborg is that it combines the wits of a living creature with the strength and speed of a machine. The result is a warrior with the best of both worlds, something which Robotnik doesn't seem able to live up to with his normal robots.****

**Classic Cowboy: **I've not decided on a pairing for certain yet, but I am leaning towards making it Tails/Amy. It all depends on how the story develops...

Anyway, enjoy! Let me know what you think! 

p.s. Chapter 7 may not come out for two or three weeks because I'm going on holiday soon, but rest assured that it _is_ on it's way.

Chapter 6: Isn't this what you always wanted? 

Confused, lost, scared. 

Emotions seemed so powerful here. They had been that way ever since his first treatment, when he had been 'prepared', as the madman had called it. And the effects were already in motion, he knew. Not just on the emotional side, but the physical also- he could feel, could see, that he was taller than he had been yesterday. 

The silence seemed so loud. It was unbearable, creating a strange buzzing in his ears. He could not stand it, so he broke it, glancing at his shadowy companion as he did so.

"...what do you think is gonna happen to us?"

A thick and heavy pause. The silence got louder, if such a thing was possible.

"...I don't know."

"Do you think... He'll robotisize us?"

"If he was, then he would have done it already."

Relief.

But... Then he must be doing something else. Something new.

Fear.

He did not want to drown in the feeling, so he spoke again.

"...yeah, I guess so. 'Buttnik always sets it up so that someone's gonna be robotisized, but Sonic always saves them..."

"Sonic's your friend?"

Pride, though short lived.

"Yeah! Yeah, he..."

Falling.

"He was, but I'm not so sure anymore. He would have saved us already if..."

Guilt. 

For what? The murder? No, that was not his fault. That he had been captured? Sonic would not have been captured.

Failure.

"What's he doing to you?" came the voice of the other. They locked eyes.

"...I don't know."

"You look older than yesterday."

"I feel... older... I think."

"Why hasn't he done anything to me? Why just you?"

Silence.

Fear.

"Maybe he's testing something on me..."

Nothing.

"We'll never be free from him," says the other.

----------

Miles awoke slowly to the rather pleasant sensation of sunlight filtering through the window and filling his assigned room with warmth. It was nice, nicer than anything he had felt in a long while, and he was in no rush to spoil it by getting up- he deserved this lie in he thought, a reward for putting up with the Old Quarter in Chestnut for so long.

His mind was quite active however, trying to decide whether it was the sun what had woken him or the dream of his imprisonment with Shadow. Usually when he dreamt of those times it would be filled with pain and horror as the process of turning him into a Cyborg got fully underway, but this time it was just the preparation- when he had been forced to grow faster than he should, and when the hormonal restraint had just been implanted. 

It occurred to him then that it hadn't really restrained a whole lot, even then. If anything, it had made him _more_ emotional.

Still, it didn't matter anymore, he supposed. It was over, and there was no use worrying about it now. It wasn't like he could go back and change it or anything.

He sighed, pushing the thoughts from his mind. It was probably the sun that had awoken him anyway, because whilst it felt good it _was_ pretty bright. No, he wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon because of it, so the best thing he could do was to prepare for the day ahead.

Abruptly, he became aware of a presence in the room with him. He looked to his side, still half-asleep, only to see a hooded figure watching from a short distance away. It was an orange-brown fox with bushy white eyebrows, wearing a long blue cloak that covered all but his aging face, upon which was a small, soft smile. 

Miles blinked hard to align his hazy sight and was about to ask who the figure who he was and how he had got in here- but as he opened his eyes, the fox had gone as if he had never existed.

Somewhat disturbed by the strange figure, Miles rolled over with intent to get out of bed, but was left just a beat short of a heart attack when he found himself looking into a pair of large orange eyes. He yelped in surprise, natural instincts taking over in a flash- if one were to wake to someone in their room back in Chestnut then they were probably about to have a fight, after all. The fact that he was in Knothole was forgotten, as was that he was on a proper bed- thus his leap backwards, in expectance that he was on his old bed made of just a few blankets on the floor, did not take into account his elevated position. The result was that he was sent rather unceremoniously to the floor in a tangled heap with a loud thud.

"Cream, don't _do_ that!" he snapped once the room had stopped spinning. He pushed himself up and made sure that his tails hadn't wound themselves into a knot.

The little rabbit giggled and bounced onto his bed, giving him a playful smile. 

"'Mornin Miles!" she said. He sighed and rubbed his face as he did his best to fight of the waves of annoyance.

"Good morning, Cream," he said, looking up at her. "Why are you here?"

She beamed at him. "I wanted to say hello! I knew that you'd be okay, Miles, nothing stops you! You're my hero!"

Anyone else would be filed with pride at hearing such a thing, or at least surprise- Miles however ignored it, because he knew that it wasn't true.

"I ain't no hero, kid," the mercenary growled, getting unsteadily to his feet. She had annoyed him with this sudden wake-up call, and were it anyone else he'd probably be yelling blue murder right now- but to this child, he simply didn't have the heart. Just like how he didn't have it in him to turn down her request to help the Freedom Fighters in Chestnut.

Glancing over her he could see Amy in the open doorway to the apartment, dressed in casual clothing of a shirt, jacket and jeans. She was looking at him with amusement written all over her face. He glared at her.

"Good morning, Rose."

"Cream, what are you doing in here?" the pink hedgehog asked with faked surprise after a short grin. The girl bought it, apparently, as she spun to look at the woman who was her teacher and, for all intents and purposes Miles supposed, her mother.

"Oh, uh, I was just saying hello to Miles, Miss Rose!" she said quickly.

"Yes, well come on, breakfast is being served. The rest of the class is already down there."

"Okay! See you in a bit, Miles!"

The little rabbit ran out of the doorway and disappeared into the corridor, leaving just Miles and Amy.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Amy asked with a small smile. Miles was always suspicious of such offers, so cautiously he replied with a question of his own.

"Will I have to pay for it?"

"No, Sally has set things so that you get your food for free."

Ah. The princess. As much as he disliked the idea of being in any sort of debt to Knothole, he couldn't deny that he _was _hungry.

"...alright."

"Okay, are you ready now?"

He raked his hands briefly through his head fur and shrugged on his jacket so that he was at least presentable. That would be good enough.

"Yeah. Lead the way, Amy."

----------

"Nah Cream, It doesn't matter what you say. Tails ain't real! He's just some guy that Mr. Antoine made up."

Cream stared at Skip, completely at a loss of why he would not believe her. She had seen Miles Prower, talked to him, been saved by him too- she _knew_ he was real! Plus she had seen him this morning, so he was definitely still here. Maybe he'd come into the cafeteria for breakfast, then she could prove it!

The second class of the Acorn School for Orphans were busy eating their breakfast together in the palace cafeteria as they did almost every day in their educational lives, the third class to one side of their long table and the first class to the other. As schools went, this one was tiny- only twenty-seven students in total, the youngest being eight years of age and the oldest being sixteen. They were split by their ages, those under eleven were in the first class and those above thirteen were in the third. Every three or so years the classes moved up a stage and their teacher went with them until they reached the fourth year of the third class, at which point they were given the option of what to do with their lives whilst a new first class was drafted in. The system was new and remained quite touch and go, but it worked and that was good enough for the royal family.

Cream was in the second class, because she was currently eleven years old. The other seven in her group were around the same age, and with her had become involved in the latest bit of gossip going around the school: Was Tails really here?

The young rabbit knew that he was. He'd saved her life twice after all, and had been real nice to her when the two Freedom Fighters weren't around. He was a fox, he had two tails, his name was Miles Prower- what more proof did anyone need?

Skip, a white young dog with brown patches of fur, was what could be considered her opposition in most situations. The two often argued over things like this with support on either side from their respective best friends- he and his comrade Jeremy (a white rabbit), and her with her ally Pepsi (a black and white dog). Pepsi fully believed Cream's story, whilst Jeremy was true to form with his scepticism.

"But he _is_ real!" she said, almost whining in her tone. "And I'll prove it to you too! Just you wait- look!" she said abruptly, jumping up from her seat and pointing at a familiar mercenary who had just joined the dinner queue along with Amy. He was wearing his grey jacket as always, and despite having had a good nights sleep he looked rather moody as he gathered his breakfast. 

She waved at him when he had what he wanted, catching his eye and gesturing for him to come and sit at the table. He paused for a moment, then made his way towards her after Amy said something quietly in his ear. The pink hedgehog followed.

Miles placed his breakfast tray on the table at the empty place beside Cream, containing some toast and a cup of tea, and took a casual glance around the room. Only once Amy had sat across from him did he appear comfortable enough to sit down himself.

There was silence at the table as the eight kids watched the mercenary expectantly. He was busying himself by preparing his tea, and took a sip; then he noticed that he had the attention of the whole table without having actually done anything.

The calm could not last.

"Tell them Miles! Tell them you're Tails!" she squeaked, earning herself a quick glare from the fox. She ignored it, and he turned his attention away.

"I'm not Tails," he growled, looking away.

"Ha! I knew it!" Skip burst out.

"But he _is_! His name's Miles Prower, right Miles?"

He didn't even bother looking at her this time, apparently focusing on some thought instead. But he answered distractedly nonetheless.

"Yes..."

"Ya see?!" Cream said, almost desperately. "Miles Prower is Tails, Mr. Antoine said so! And Miss Bunnie too, _and_ I've heard Sonic and Princess Sally talk about him!"

"Cream!..." Amy interrupted, Gesturing towards the fox. She looked just in time to see him viciously take a bite from a slice of un-buttered toast, as is to take solace in its bland taste. His face had hardened, and in this state he appeared quite intimidating. 

Uh oh, she'd hit a sensitive spot. Evidently he disliked having himself discussed around the table.

"He is, you'll see..." she muttered, grabbing her carton of milk. "Just wait 'till you see his claws!"

"Anyone could have two tails, but no one has blades in their hands Cream. You'd believe anything!" 

He laughed at her, as did the rest of the boys at the table. She did her best to ignore them, pulling and twisting at her sealed milk container to take her mind away.

"Do you need some help with that?" Miles asked as she struggled with the tear-open carton. She blinked and looked at him. His expression as he looked back at her was that of indifference, just as it had been when he had sat down, but his eyes held a small speck of anger and protectiveness. He was planning something.

"Um, yes please," she said, and held out the white box to him. He took it after dropping his toast on his plate and cast a short glance at the boys, making sure he had their attention. Then, he focused on the carton.

Instead of tearing off the perforated corner, a single blade emerged from the centre slit in Miles' casually clenched right fist. With it he quickly sliced off the corner, then set it back down on the table in front of her as the blade snapped back into his arm.

She happily took the carton and poured some of the contents into her glass. Once done, her eyes rose to the boys down the table, only to see them looking past her in shock. A moment was all it took to realise that the entire table, except for herself and Miss Rose, was now watching Miles with fear.

"See? I _told_ you he had claws!" she said with a smug smile in Skip's general direction. 

Amy laughed.

----------

At the same time across the other side of the palace, another meeting was taking place- though contrary to the light-hearted state of the other, this one was quite serious.

"Okay, orders for the day..."Sally Acorn said in her 'commander' tone of voice- the one that demanded attention and usually got it from all but the one man she was engaged to, namely, Sonic Hedgehog. Today she was lucky in a way, as the unexpected appearance of one artificially enhanced Miles Prower, if anything, had brought a sobering effect upon the leaders of the Knothole Freedom Fighters as they sat in the Knothole war room. Even Sonic looked quite calm, which would make it easier for instructions to be given and understood.

"Leading on from last night, we need more information on the appearance of the machines before we can make any move, if necessary, against them.

"Antoine, I want you to take squad Page and squad Drazin south to where we came into contact with the swatbots, have Dulcy go with you as aerial support. Look for clues, traces, anything that could be useful. Rotor, you're with him- do a scan of the area for metal whilst you're there.

The coyote frowned slightly, and leant forward in his seat. The medals on his oddly formal casual wear jingled with the movement, only serving to enhance the quietness of the room.

"Oui, ma princess. Forgive ma asking zis, but two squads and a dragon? Is that not too much?"

"It could be, but I don't want to take any chances. Go in full uniform and be armed too- I don't want to lose anyone today."

He nodded, leant back into his chair with a sniff, and Sally found herself wondering if he really was to be the right man for the job. Despite how he had progressed in leaps and bounds form the quivering wreck he had once been, he could not match Sonic for leadership. Sending Sonic, however, was out of the question- he had made that quite clear in the meeting last night. The hedgehog would do as ordered, provided that it involved interaction with Miles Prower at some point.

And that was fair enough, she supposed. They were meant to be best friends after all, and she knew how much Tails had looked up to him in his younger days. According to Bunnie and Amy, Tails was extremely reluctant to become involved with Freedom Fighter activities and, with how he had acted yesterday, she could believe it. Getting him to change his attitude would be a tough challenge, but like everything else she intended to tackle it in the manner most likely to achieve victory. And to do that, they would need everyone who had once been close to Tails at hand... Therefore, Sonic would be a key player.

"The rest of us shall determine whether... whether Tails has anything to do with the machines." She swallowed. "Amy is observing him right now, and the rest of us shall go and talk to him soon."

"What ah we gonna do?" Bunnie asked.

"We'll show him around the base and monitor for outgoing signals. If there aren't any..."

"Then we get him to be ah Freedom Fighter?" the rabbit finished. "Easier said than done, Sally-girl."

"Don't worry, I'll be talkin' to him!" Sonic said. "He's my best bud, he'll listen to me!"

"Ya saw how he was yesterday, Sonic," Bunnie replied flatly. The use of the hedgehog's name, rather than 'Sugar-hog', showed just how serious she was. "He's been like that ever since we found him.  Ya gotta understand, he isn't like he was when ya last saw him, he's... He's been living in a filthy little room for ten years, he's had those metal bits stuck in 'im, and he seems so angry... Don't push 'im, else he'll turn on ya."

"Don't sweat it Bun. I know what I'm doing."

"Don't worry Bunnie," Sally added with false bravado, "If it helps, then we'll follow your lead. But, there is something else we need to discuss..."

On the desk to her side stood Nicole, and she took the small computer and flicked it open. From it came a holographic projection, displaying a three dimensional map of where the skirmish had taken place a few days earlier, numerous red and green dots picked out along its surface. As the common key went, green were friendly forces whilst red were the enemy.

"This is the set up as the fight started. As you can see, despite the swatbots' use of cover, something that they never used to do under Robotnik's control, they do make use of what appear to be old deployment trends and tactics. In other words, they charged, though this time systematically."

"Who would do something like that?" Rotor asked with a frown.

"What about 'ol Snivley?" Bunnie said. "We were neva sure that he was killed back when the war was goin' on."

"No way!" interrupted Sonic with a dismissive wave. "I saw the whole city go up after all the bombs were set, there's no way that Snivley would have survived."

"I agree with that, Sonic," Sally nodded to her fiancée. "But, this does put us at a slight advantage. We can use old records to formulate our own tactics to counter them, should they reappear."

The briefing continued, Antoine and Rotor leaving to get ready once they had covered the movements of the Swatbots. Once they had departed, they turned their attention to the black and red Cyborg and began to build upon the speculation from last night of any possible link between it and Tails. But, they had no real facts on it... So the only move open to the leaders of the Knothole was to ask Miles Prower about it face-to-face.

Sally could tell by the look on Bunnie's face that it would not be easy.

----------

"You sure know how to make an impression, Miles."

"Well it worked, didn't it?"

Amy smiled and nodded to him, preferring the movement to the whispering they had been communicating with until now. The eight children of the second class were at their desks in the classroom, quiet and as good as gold. Amy had invited him to stay through the lessons to help out, and not really having anything else to do he had accepted. She had given him a brief show of the top and bottom classes, and then brought him here- a nice, fancy room in the same style of his given bedroom.

The kids were watching him carefully, all except for Cream. Whilst she shared the perfectly straight posture of the others, her face held a wide, happy smile, quite a contrast to the sense of unease that filled the room.

There was a knock on the door, and after a moment it swung open to reveal Princess Sally and Sonic Hedgehog. Immediately as if one being, the entire class stood and bowed to the pair.

"Good morning your Royal Highnesses," they said in perfect synchronisation. Sally looked a little embarrassed, whilst Sonic revelled in the attention.

Amy then nodded to them in respect, along with a similar (though slightly more informal) greeting. Miles, having his thoughts on in-bred loyalty from the previous day confirmed, looked away from the two leaders of Knothole and fought down the rising feeling of anger.

"Good morning kids," Sally said happily before turning to Amy. "We, uh, need to speak with Tails."

"Miles," the fox in question said firmly, making it quite clear how he wished to be addressed. The kids appeared surprised at his lack of respect to the royals, but in all honesty he did not care in the slightest. Sally too looked a bit thrown, looking at him fro a moment.

"Uh, yes, we need to speak to Miles," she said a little harshly.

"Yes your highness," Amy said quickly, making use of proper protocol in referring to the princess in an attempt to show the kids that such a lack or respect was not appropriate for them. She couldn't help but find it difficult to ignore how Miles raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask, _'what's the point?'._

"Miles, would you...?" the teacher asked, and he nodded.

"Of course," came the reply, and he walked towards the two parental figures of his youth standing in the doorway. "See ya, kids."

He did not look back as he followed the two into the corridor outside, and as such missed the look of worry on Amy's face. 

----------

Miles had never felt so pressured.

Once in the corridor Bunnie had appeared and greeted him kindly, but not before Sonic had attempted to give him a high five. The mercenary, who had lost his taste for the 'cool' lingo that Sonic spoke with so faithfully, had ignored the raised hand in hopes that doing so would make a point that they were not exactly friends anymore. As it turned out the hopes were in vain, for the hedgehog then proceeded to give him a hug, slap him on the back, then ask how 'his best bud' was doing.

Miles' response was to simply look at his old role model, bow slightly, then greet him with the single word 'highness'. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do at the time- his emotions were, as always with them in his mind, swinging from one extreme to the other. He didn't know whether to gut him or run away from him.

Sally had led the three through the corridors, Bunnie at her side with Sonic and Miles behind. It was because of this formation that the pressure was piling upon him, as the Freedom Fighters seemed to be surrounding the mercenary with both their forms and ideals. He felt like he was being forced to look upon what he had once wanted to be, what he now knew he could never be. His hands were too stained with blood to allow it.

The three elder members of the group had been exchanging polite conversation, in which he did not care to participate. Instead he watched the mahogany décor of the palace pass by, and began to wonder where they were taking him as it abruptly became more metallic, as though they had just entered a bunker.

Suddenly, Bunnie began talking directly to him and he realised, belatedly, that they had been discussing why he would want to stay in Knothole, as well as one or two secrets of the Freedom Fighters of the day. In the back of his mind he wished he had listened to some of it, as information – however obscure – was always good to have. You never knew when it might become useful.  

"Ya see? It's jus' like a was sayin' Miles," Bunnie said, turning her head to look back at him. Despite her confident tone of voice and movement as she walked, he could see doubt in her eyes as clear as day. "You don't need ta feel worried about what people think of ya mechanical bits in Knothole. You could join the mechanists, they'd help ya find a job-"

"Mechanists?" he interrupted, fixing the rabbit with a serious look. "There are Mechanists in Knothole?"  
  


"Well o' course, sugar," she said with a warm smile, clearly misinterpreting his interest on the matter. "Ah do declare, they are wonderful people, providin' support for mechs an fighting prejudices against 'em.

Hmm. Bunnie had never joined them, obviously. Sure they looked like a nice organisation from the outside, but once you got involved there was quite a lot more to discover. He had joined a few years ago when he was desperate for food, only to find that the Mechanists were in fact an incredibly strange pseudo-religious cult, who believed in a 'Machine God' and that mechs alone should rule Mobius. The members acted in a trance all the time, as though they had been brainwashed shortly after signing up, and some often proclaimed that Robotnik was the greatest leader the world had seen.

Needless to say, he didn't stick around for very long. He understood and fully supported the mech battle against prejudice; after all, he was practically a mech himself, but he _really_ did not like the idea of a full blown violent revolution against norms. 

Knothole was not bad at all for anti-mech feelings, and that was why he was a little concerned that they had a presence here. In Chestnut it was understandable- but here, it was unnecessary. It was as if... As if it were an outpost. A base, if you will.

"Ya know about em?" Bunnie asked, glancing at him with that smile once more. He paused, lost between telling them what they were and... not telling them what they were. But in the end, defensive instinct took over and he found himself staring straight forward.

"No," he said flatly, putting an abrupt ending to his involvement in the conversation.

They soon came to a rectangular room, about the size of a normal classroom that had seven cylindrical recesses along the far wall and a bench along the centre, making it seem like a changing area. The seven grooves in the wall were containment areas, it appeared, for an all too familiar set of black and grey light armour. 

Sally moved before him and pulled out Nicole from a pocket on the inside of her jacket. She flipped the small computer open, and it turned on with a beep.

"Nicole," she said, "were there any outgoing transmissions over the last ten minutes from anyone nearby?"

There was a pause, during which Miles narrowed his eyes at the princess.

"Negative, Sally," came Nicole's bland voice. Sally smiled and closed the computer, tucked it into her jacket once more, then stopped short at the threatening look upon Miles' face.

"You know," he growled, "If you wanted to know if I was working for the enemy, you could have just asked."

"Well I'm sorry Tails, but in situations like this we can't afford to take chances, because we don't even know who the enemy is," she said with an attempt to equal the steel in his voice.

She wasn't even close.

It was odd, because he knew that she was very much justified in her actions. He didn't trust her, but... That she did not trust him still hurt. And he didn't know why.

Just one more example of his screwed up feelings.

"You passed anyway, though," she said, voice growing lighter. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sonic grinning like an idiot.

"Passed what, _your_ _highness_?"

"As you can see," she said with pride, turning away from him and towards the armour, "Rotor has managed to put together seven combat suits for us, though two are out in use at the moment. Eventually we want every Freedom Fighter to have one, but so far this is all we can manage."

Miles stood back and watched her walk slowly before the uniforms, pointing out details of each of them as she went. He sighed, knowing full well where this was going.

"This is Sonic's... Mine... Rotor's goes here... Bunnie's... Antoine's is usually stored here... Amy's... And then..."

She stopped before the last one, and beckoned for him to come closer. Miles felt distinctly ill. Even if he had guessed already what she was about to show him, experiencing it still hurt.

"This one has never been worn," she said with a smile, though the gesture of support did not reach him. Rather, he found her sudden change of expression jarring. He watched her look back at Sonic and Bunnie, and noted that whilst Sonic wore a similar smile to the princess, Bunnie looked quite worried. "But we'd all like that to change."

He turned back to the suit and stepped up close to it. It was hung from a metal coat hanger and, in design, was just the same as the others. The only difference was the lack of customisation on it- it was just a plain black and grey uniform with all the same flak plates as were on Bunnie and Amy in Chestnut. The forearms arms had the gauntlet-like formation, and at the bottom of the recess in which it was hung were a pair of black combat boots.

His hand came up and he ran a finger gently across the collar. Embroidered there was his old nickname, Tails.

"We kept this one for you. We always knew that you'd come home one day, Tails."

His childhood had been spent doing everything he could to become a Freedom Fighter. It had been his one goal in life, his dream, and so he couldn't help but feel a little touched that Sally had kept this uniform aside solely for him so that he could be a Freedom Fighter, just like them. Somewhere, deep inside, he wanted nothing more than to be able to join them, to fulfil that one dream. 

But he couldn't. He did not deserve such a thing, and besides, how was he to know that they wouldn't turn on him again? Especially when they clearly did not trust him?

"Well," he said eventually, stepping away from the uniform, "it's real nice of you to look after this all for Tails." He turned and glared at her. "But that's just it. This is for _Tails_, not for me. You keep calling me Tails, but for the love of the Walkers, _I am not Tails!_ I'm not some whiny, idealistic fool of a child, I'm not your baby to do with whom as you please! I'm Miles, a mercenary from the Old Quarter in Chestnut, scum, filth, whatever it is you aristocratic types like to call we people stuck right at the bottom of society. I've lived the last ten years of my life in a dirty run-down flat, I'm used to eating stale bread, I barely wash, and I kill for a living! And here, you expect me to just settle down here and, and work for you as if I've always been one of you? 

"Don't get me wrong, _your highness_, I appreciate everything you and Sonic and Bunnie and everyone did for me when I still lived here, but I don't belong here anymore, can't you understand that?"

He swallowed, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. He could tell that he had hurt Sally by the way that her shoulders ad slumped, and the tears forming in her eyes blocked out the anger of his soul in a moment, leaving just raw, painful guilt.

"I... I just don't deserve it," he muttered, then walked out of the room. He had no idea how to get out of the palace or how to get back to the school area, but he did not care, he'd probably find it eventually anyway. But he had to get away from the figures of his past as quickly as he could... Before he broke down himself.

----------

It was late evening, and at this time as it was every day of the week, the cafeteria was empty. Well, it would be empty were it not for the presence of two hormone-driven teenagers. A male wolf sat in lip-lock with a pretty female mouse at the end of a table towards the closed food serving counter, oblivious to everything but each other- and that included a certain two-tailed mercenary who, for all he could remember, had never sat in such a situation. He'd watched this sort of thing of course- gang leaders liked to make out with whores in front of prospective clients (namely, him) in meetings as a way of displaying power and how much 'better' they were than said client. He had cared very little to be honest, and did not care a great deal now either- but what did cause him to frown was that he knew these kids to both be around fourteen as he recognised them from the third orphan class.

Miles watched them for a few moments, idly wondering why he had never felt a desire to do such a thing. Love, passion, sex, and all they entailed had never featured prominently on his mind, which was odd he supposed- but he'd never lost sleep over it, either in his mind... or otherwise. No, he simply felt no need to go hunting for a mate. It wasn't like he could support a child anyway.

But the game of tonsil hockey was annoying him now, so he decided that it was a good time as any to step in and prevent the two from drowning on their own saliva. 

_Damn,_ that _would_ be an embarrassing way to die.

"Aren't you a little... _young_ for that?" he asked casually, leaning up against the serving counter. The two leapt away from each other like opposing magnets, span to look at him and then attempted to put together an excuse through their glowing red faces. Miles fought down the urge to laugh at their pathetic stammering.

"Uh, M-Mr. Prower!" the girl said whilst wiping her mouth quickly with the back of her hand. "We, um, didn't see you there... We were just, ah... Cleaning the table...?"

He gave a snort at the poor excuse and grinned.

"Is that the best you do? You could have at _least_ said that you had something stuck between your teeth."

The wolf then spoke up with a wavering voice,

"...is it too late to say that?" 

Miles found that he didn't need to bother answering as the mouse smacked her boyfriend over the back of the head. The girl then looked at him once more, blushing furiously.

"Um, goodnight Mr. Prower... You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"I dunno. What's it worth to you?"

The look of horror on her face was golden. _'Wish I had a camera,'_ he thought with a snicker.

"Don't worry kiddo, you secret's safe with me."

She thanked him quickly and quickly departed with a coy wink towards the wolf. Miles rubbed his muzzle, pretending not to have seen it. Once she had left the cafeteria, he looked at the wolf who was now seating himself back down at one of the tables and asked about what he had come down for.

"Don't you have any beer around here?"

The wolf looked like he had been thrown a little off guard by the simple question, but he quickly recovered.

"Yeah, there will probably be some in the fridge back there."

Miles walked through the doorway that the wolf had pointed at and found himself behind the counter. It only took a moment to find the fridge, inside which were a few cans of some brand that he did not care to think about. He then returned to the main room, and sat himself across form the wolf who was busying himself by drinking a can of soda.

"So. What are you doing down here at this time of night?" the mercenary asked. 

The wolf just looked at him with a slight blush. Miles laughed.

"Okay, so that was a stupid question. Just down here because it's quiet, right?"

The question was answered with a boyish grin.

"Yeah, that and because we've been banned from each other's rooms..."

Miles raised an eyebrow and popped open his can. He took a gulp, then looked down his muzzle at the grey wolf. He could tell only by looking at him that the boy was just a little love-struck with the recently departed fox. Ah, puppy love- something which he had missed out on due to certain circumstances. It was a little saddening, but like with many things he knew that he'd never get it back. There was no point devoting a great deal of attention to it.

"What's your name?" he asked. The boy smiled.

"Thomas, but everyone calls me Tom."

"Well, hello Tom."

"Hi... Uh, I don't mean to sound rude Mr. Prower, but are you really the Miles 'Tails' Prower that Mr. Antoine tells us about?"

He snorted at the question. These kids thought that he was some kind of hero- he was nothing of the sort. All he wanted was to live to see tomorrow, not to achieve world peace or anything. If that were to happen, then he'd be out of a job anyway.

"No. He just took my name. I _used_ to be called Tails, but not anymore. Oh, and call me Miles. I don't like all this 'Mr. Prower' stuff, makes me sound too damn respectable."

Miles watched the wolf laugh quietly with envy. He wished that they could change places, even if for only a day, but he would leap at any chance to make his life simple once more.

  
And it had been simple just a week ago. He had nothing to do with Freedom Fighters, and they had nothing to do with them. That relationship (or lack thereof) had suited the mercenary perfectly well, because he had no ties, nothing to hold him back and, most importantly, it made certain that he had no standards to live up to. 

Sonic and Sally were still, to his mind, his parents. There was no getting around it. And, as he guessed he should, he felt a multitude of feelings revolving around guilt and shame. They had brought him up as best they could, teaching him what were the standards that they thought everyone should strive to live by. As soon as he had arrived in Chestnut, well, as soon as he had escaped from Robotnik, they had gone straight out of the window. 

He had been the youngest inhabitant of Knothole before his exile and Sonic and Sally had attempted to make him into a smart and polite young man, one who knew the value of life, one who would stand against all the wrongs in the world, a man who would – one day – become the perfect commander of the Freedom Fighters. 

He had become anything but. He was moody, violent, aggressive, foul-mouthed, and had a distinct lack of optimism. To survive he had lied, fought, killed, even assassinated for the right price on occasion. Because of it all, whenever he saw or even thought of Sonic or Sally he would be overwhelmed by the thought that he was a complete and utter failure, a waste of time and effort. And then the old anger, the hatred would wash over him, blinding him to what he felt prior to it. 

Whenever his tangled emotions came to mind, Miles couldn't help but envision a knot.

"What did her Royal Highness want?"

The question threw him out of his thoughts abruptly, and he had to blink hard to get his eyes to focus on Tom.

"She wanted me to join the Freedom Fighters leadership. Showed me one of those fancy suits with my name on and everything."

"Woah," the boy replied, clearly awed. "Just like that? No test, no nothing?"

Miles gave a snort of indifference and took a gulp of beer.

"Nope. And if you're wondering, yes, this is favouritism in action."

Tom paused and his head tilted one side.

"Well, what did you say?" he asked.

"I pointed at the door and told them to choose someone who would live up to their fantastical ideas."

Miles looked away and listened to him whistle in admiration... or possibly pity. It could have been either.

"Jeez... Miles," he said, pausing at the mercenary's name as though it were uncomfortable to use. "Have you got a death wish? You can't just talk to Princess Acorn like that. She's... Well, she's pretty much in charge of everything around here, including whether you live or die-"

The fox rolled his eyes, and impatiently interrupted Tom's rant in mid flow.

"Kid, I've seen a lot of this world, and I've trodden on a lot of toes in my time, but I've yet to see any leader who has the will to follow through on killing me just because I pissed them off. They usually save the 'I'm going to kill you' stuff for after I've stolen whatever valuable I've been hired to find."

"Wait, steal?" Tom was visibly thrown. "Cream said you were just being nice when you helped her, Miss Rose and Miss Rabbot out."

"I'm a mercenary, treasure hunter, bodyguard, whatever, provided that the price is right. I wasn't interested in Cream and her guardians until it occurred to me that Freedom Fighters would pay well."

Tom appeared taken aback by Miles' words and it took the wolf a good minute to think of a response.

"Miles, you're a strange fox."

"Yeah, well..."

The elder of the two stood and began to make his way towards the exit of the cafeteria, his can of beer in hand. But before he left, he looked back at the wolf.

"I'm not the best guy to go around giving advice, but here me out here, Tom," he said. "I don't care what you do with your girlfriend, whether or not you become a Freedom Fighter yourself, or if you and your classmates continue to worship the authority around here in the way that you do for the rest of your life. But, whatever happens, don't end up like me."

Miles left without another word, leaving Tom alone in the large room. The wolf remained there for some time, trying to make up his mind on who and what Miles 'Tails' Prower really was.

----------

A white corridor, a pair of adult male foxes, and a feeling of happiness. That was all that he knew as he floated with them, watching them, hearing them. It was like a dream.

One, wearing a long blue cloak said,

"I came as soon as I heard, Amadeus. You must be feeling very proud."

There was laughter.

"You have no idea, Merlin!" the other, dressed in a long white laboratory coat, said. "When Rosemary told me that she was pregnant... I'm going to be a daddy! And you, you're going to be an uncle!"

A smile.

"I cannot deny, my brother, that this visit is with congratulatory intent alone. I had a dream last night, one that I believe is important. I am certain that it was a premonition."

"...so? You've had them before, what makes this so important? It isn't about my child, is it?"

"It is, I am afraid. Or, at least I think it is. You have already noticed a deformity, have you not?"

"...yes... But it is nothing serious, it might not be anything at all. It's hard to tell at this stage."

"Amadeus, my dream showed a boy, a fox with a mutation, and from what I have been told, it appears that it came on the night when your child was conceived. He was bathed in shadow, yet held light within... And he brought a change across all of Mobius."

"You mean like one of the Chosen Ones?"

"Yes. The one through which the Walkers fight the darkness."

"And... You think my child is this Chosen One?"

A slow nod.

"But... Why? There is no great evil in the world. What do the Walkers need a warrior for?"

"I do not know. Perhaps you should ask Julian about it, he has an interest in Mobian religious history of course. He would know a great deal about Chosen Ones of the past-"

Pain, fear, anger, cold metal and steel. Transformation, robotisization, and the theft of a child from a womb.

"Wake up, Miles," came a warm, old voice.

----------

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Miles' eyes opened suddenly, and quickly adjusted to the dark room. He had only been here a day, and as this short time paled in comparison to the years in Chestnut he felt quite confused for a moment- but only for a moment, which was good enough for him.

Yes, he was in Knothole, because the princess had not yet given him clearance to leave despite his outburst earlier. It was unlikely that she would anytime soon, so he had been thinking of other ways out before he fell asleep... But why had he woken up?

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The strangely loud tap in the bathroom was dripping. Could that be it? Possibly. After all, he had had no nightmares tonight (or at least non that he could remember), so that couldn't be why he had awoken... Awoken suddenly, at that. By dripping water?

No. A leaking tap wouldn't bring him out of a deep sleep just like that. No...

The image of a hooded fox came to his mind, a younger version of the one he had seen in the room earlier. And with him came the rest of the odd scene, finally climaxing in fear, confusion, and the simple words- 'Wake up, Miles'.

So... he had woken up because some strange old fox in his mind had told him to?

Miles rose from his bed with a grunt, taking note of the sense of foreboding that was creeping over him, and pulled on his jacket and boots. A night stroll would do him good, he decided. And besides, it would help calm him down so that he could sleep again.

He made his way towards the bathroom, intending to stop the noisy tap. But when he got there, he realised that it wasn't the tap making the noise... there was no water coming out of it. The noise was still there though, and now that he was near the front door of the apartment room he could tell that it was coming from the wooden floor outside.

Slowly, he opened the front door and looked down the hallway. His eyes widened when he saw, approaching him on tiptoes, a female cat whose entire lower body was made of metal. The sound from her feet touching the floor ceased as she saw him, and Miles saw that she was registering him with a degree of emotion- she was not a Cyborg, thank the Walkers.

Still, the old and crude sub-machine gun that she was pointing at him didn't exactly fill him with a great deal of confidence.


	7. It's all in a Name

Ah! Well, this one was much easier. :-) I get down on my knees and bow in thanks for all of the wonderful reviews that have been left, I can't tell you how encouraging they are! :-D 

To answer English Bloke's question, yes, Tom is kind of my version of Bobby- but of course he isn't Iceman. ;-) 

One last thing- there is a small amount of strong language here... Well, stronger than normal. But this is about the only time I intend to use the word, so don't expect it to become common.

Chapter 7: It's all in a Name 

It was late night, and at this time as it always had been since its construction, the building was silent and calm. But, unlike all other nights, numerous figures crept through the corridors, searching for something. Most could be seen as clear as day as they lacked any talent for stealth, but as Miles Prower stared at one of them, he just _knew_ that mechs were merely the beginning. 

The cat-machine combo was here for an assassination. He could see it in her bright, fanatical eyes, and how she was checking if he was the target she had been sent to eliminate. The trouble was, she was the wrong person for the job- an assassin does not walk on a wooden floor with metal feet. 

A decoy? Possibly. The more manic Mechanists weren't known for their individual smarts, but a clever leader could have sent her here on what she would believe to be a 'holy mission', whilst the real, dangerous characters went for the real targets. That would explain the gun too- people only used older, non-energy weapons for one reason; they could be easily fitted with silencers. This one, however, most certainly did not appear to have such a modification.

There was no movement from the two creatures for just a moment, but then, as if one, there was a flash of steel from Miles' fists and a _swish_ of air as the Mech's gun came up against her shoulder.

Once more there was a pause, and the mercenary found himself frowning in confusion as she lowered her weapon at the sight of his blades, and a smile blossomed on her face.

"Brother!" she cried in an almost dreamy manner, "The promised time is upon us at last! Have you found the cruel one, Princess Acorn?"

He just looked at her, lowering his guard slightly as a few incoherent words came from his mouth. What in the name of the Ancient Walkers did the mech mean? Surely this was an assassination attempt... the leadership of the Mechanists weren't _stupid_ enough to actually attempt a full coup, were they?

"What?" he asked, blinking dumbly, not quite able to get his head around everything that was going on.

"The revolution is now! Come with me, the children of the Freedom Fighters are here- the Machine God needs them for his army!" She let out an almost insane giggle. "Our army shall be marching over the rubble of the city by dawn!"

She was too certain, too confident to be an all-out-wacko. The cat might be heading to the deep end, but she knew what she was doing, all right. Which meant... An army? A Mechanist army was in the palace?

Shit.

Not for the first time, his claws had made him appear to be a mech. Mechs didn't get jobs in high society, it just didn't happen- therefore, she must think that he was here as part of the army. And that gave him the advantage. If he could just get her to turn her back, then he'd be able to eliminate her without a sound-

One of the dorm room doors opened behind the half mechanical cat, and he could see Cream and Pepsi lean out into the corridor. The cat whirled to face them, crying out in a sudden and disturbing anger.

"Foul creatures!" she yelled, and brought up her gun once more. The two young girls screamed, but before the cat was able to open fire Miles leapt forward, closing the distance between he and the aggressor in a flash.

He grabbed her, spun and slammed her back into the corridor wall. She did not appear to resist, even as he brought up his right set of claws to rest by her throat.

"Tell me about the revolution," he snarled. "Why are you here?"

She just looked at him in surprise, slowly turning to recognition. He made to ask again, perhaps throwing some of her blood into the equation to show how serious he was, when another voice came from down the corridor.

"You! You are the Spyder!"

He glanced away from the mech to see another, this one a male cat with a metal lower body, standing with a black pistol in one hand. 

"Spyder... The priority!" the female muttered. 

Miles had frozen up upon hearing the name. He hadn't heard it for ten years, because as far as he knew no one else knew it. He had been a failed experiment, and as such he had assumed that the classification Robotnik had given him was never entered into the Robotropolis archives. There was no point – his kind would not have been created in batches like other Cyborg types because the process of creating a Spyder was flawed. Miles was quite certain that he was the only one in existence.

So how did they know that he was a Spyder class Cyborg?

The female mech's upper body barely moved as one of her robotic legs came up and smashed into his side, with such independence from the rest of her that it looked for all the world that she had not actually willed it into action. But regardless, the sheer strength of the limb sent him careering down the corridor, straight towards the other mech.

Miles controlled his short flight as best he could, grabbing onto the cat's raising gun arm a moment before impact and twisting around the half robotic male feline. His hand covered the mech's grip on the pistol as the two fell backwards and contracted three times, squeezing the cat's hand and in turn pulling the trigger. All three rounds that came from the gun struck the other mech, sending the body silently to the floor. Her comrade soon followed as the fox stabbed him with three claws in the back.

He reached down and pried the gun from the lifeless fingers of the male mech, then went to retrieve the sub-machine gun from the other. Cream and Pepsi were still watching as he did so, Cream looking like she expected it to a degree whilst Pepsi looked somewhat ill. The other members of the royal school were coming out to join the two in an attempt to find out what all the noise was about- none of them expected to see Miles standing there with a few spots of blood on his fur, a gun in each hand and claws protruding from between his knuckles.

He subconsciously willed the blades to return to their housing, and they did with a sharp hiss. A few mutters of astonishment followed from the children.

"Stay still," he said, making a quick head count. Twenty-seven, good, the entire population was here. With any luck they could stay in his room and be safe until he could find out what was going on around here.

"Come on kids, go down here and into my room, okay? Try and get comfy, keep low, and stay quiet. Do you get me?"

They nodded shakily, and made their way quickly to the room he was gesturing to. Cream however remained where she was.

"Miles, what's going on?" she asked.

"I dunno kid, that's what I need to find out. Come on, you'll be safe in there until I can find Amy and get some answers." She was looking quite insecure about the idea of being left for any period of time, so he added, "Don't worry, I'll be back. I'm gonna be your own personal bodyguard, I promise, and I never let a client down."

He stuffed the pistol into one of the pockets on the inside of his jacket, then quickly took her into the room and made sure that everyone was okay. It was cramped, but they all fit and that would be good enough for a few minutes.

He gave a nod to them all, and looked as confident as he could, for his sake just as much as theirs. He wasn't entirely sure that stuffing them all into one room was a very good idea, but he wasn't used to escorting such a number of people at once-

...

...but the sight he had just caught through the bedroom window told him that this was probably a good time to try it anyway.

"Ancient Walkers," he whispered in awe.

"Miles? I'm scared," came a voice from his side. He looked down to see Cream watching him with wide eyes, as were the twenty-six other kids.

"...on second thought," he said thinking quickly, "all of you come with me. Now-!"

He moved to the door, holding the sub-machine gun like he were a member of a black-ops force, taking a quick glance down either direction of the corridor. It was clear, so he stepped out, stopped, then did his best to watch everything at once.

"Which way to Amy's room?" he snapped.

"Down there, round the corner, first door on the left," Cream said automatically as if reciting her times table, pointing to Miles' left. 

"Come on kids!" the mercenary said as he felt the familiar adrenaline pumping into his veins. "Follow me as fast as you can, but don't get ahead- this isn't a race, understand?"

He didn't wait for another reply, dashing in the indicated direction with good speed- fast, but not too fast for the children or to seriously hamper his aim along the guns sight. The weapon was now raised, the butt against his right shoulder and his finger on the trigger.

As he neared the corner, a figure came around to meet them. The bulkiness of it's arms made it known that it was another mech- and the way that it moved into a fighting stance declared that it was also a Mechanist.

Miles wasted no time, firing off a burst of three bullets into the Mechanist's face, painting the wall behind it crimson. He stepped past the body, turned the corner- and immediately leapt back to avoid the multitude of thuds from incoming rifle fire. The fine wood that formed the walls of the hallway exploded into tiny shards where the projectiles made contact, rewarding the two-tailed fox with small cuts from splintered shrapnel.

He cursed violently, wondering what he could do to take out the three Mechanists just around the corner. A plan was presented to him when his ears picked up the faint _thud_ of a round object bouncing off the wall and down the corridor- a fragmentation grenade!

His left hand snapped away from its grip under the barrel of his gun, catching the ball before it could touch the ground. Immediately, he tossed it back before it could go off and kill both he and the kids-

And then it went with a blasting roar. Miles waited a moment, sparing a glance to the frightened kids behind him as they clutched at their ears, then stepped around to witness a mess that the palace servants would probably never be able to get completely out of the woodwork.

"Come on!" he shouted, dashing through the wisps of smoke and towards the first door he could see on the left. Whilst he was transfixed upon events happening around him (this was a battle, after all, and one needed to be alert), in the back of his mind he was questioning one thing- where the bloody hell was security around this place?! It seemed like he'd find more guards around a primary school!

He reached the door and kicked it open, coming face-to-face with Amy Rose. It looked like the initial bursts of gunfire had awoken her, as she was only dressed in her nightclothes.

"Miles?" she gasped, blinking and looking at the blood on him in shock, "What's going on? What are-"

"The palace is under attack," he said quickly, kids beginning to file into the room for safety. Amy's room was quite large, he noticed, bigger than his (probably all Freedom Fighter leaders had similar benefits) and filled with some nice paintings. Was she interested in that sort of thing, he wondered? "Mechanists, everywhere, all armed in some way. We fought six just getting here."

He tossed his gun to her and drew the pistol from inside his jacket, taking out the clip and checking that it still had some ammo inside. It did, so he slid it back in.

"Well- what do they want?" Amy said, forcing herself to wake up as fast as she could, and letting her Freedom Fighter training taking over.

"What do you think? The Princess, guessing by what one of them said. And the kids, too."

"Why would Mechanists want to find Sally?" she asked with a frown. "They've always been friendly to us."

"Mechanists are the result of society's ignorance," Miles snapped. "They've been talking about revolution with mechs in charge for years, but I never thought they'd actually try it."

Amy paused, digesting the information, then said,

"I don't believe it-"

She was cut off when another voice, Miles recognised it as Tom's, interrupted with a cry of warning. He spun to face the doorway just in time to witness the muzzle flash from a silver pistol, held by yet another mech – this one a fox with a metal tail – and hear the whistle of an incoming round. It all seemed so slow, how it skimmed his shoulder, biting in only far enough to be deflected up and away by the metal bone just beneath the skin.

It wasn't a serious wound- but it still drew blood, and the force of the impact was enough to throw him to the floor. Almost immediately after, he heard a short burst of fire from where Amy was standing- and the fox mech went down.

"Hoo yeah," he growled sarcastically, as Amy knelt down by him to examine the wound, "they're _real_ friendly."

----------

Grid: 86/A/92

Time: 1/44: 96/A

Cross file: AD/I/81/7

Location: scanning...

...found, Knothole Palace, east wing, ref. 3827/B

Stealth mode engaged, battery time remaining: 1/35: 83/A

Primary objective: terminate ROYAL FAMILY, ref. ACORN, SALLY/HEDGEHOG, SONIC

Secondary objective: SPYDER, search and destroy, ref. PROWER, MILES

HEDGEHOG, priority: 1

ACORN, priority: 2

SPYDER, priority: 3

...

Variable sighted: identification: Palace Guard

Action? Options: avoid/engage/capture

...

Engage_

----------

"...my God," Amy Rose whispered as she looked out of Miles' bedroom window. They had quickly returned there once they had made a makeshift bandage for the mercenary's shoulder, he telling her that she had to 'see this for herself'. Which was just as well, she had to admit, as she'd never have believed it otherwise.

The window opened out to give a good view of Knothole's main street, leading right up to the main gates of the city. The gates themselves were open and, now, marching through them in neat, precise columns were swatbots. Hundreds of swatbots.

"What do we do?" she asked Miles, who was standing just out of the doorway and watching over the kids, pistol in hand.

"How should I know?" he replied harshly, "_You're_ the Freedom Fighter!" 

She ignored the venom in his voice, as he did have a point. She was a fully trained Freedom Fighter, she could handle this... She hoped.

But what to do?

"Let's find Bunnie," she said, marching back into the corridor and hefting her sub-machine gun. "She can get the kids to safety, whilst we can hit the alarm to alert Sonic and Sally."

"What? Surely the noise has woken them up."

"They sleep in the east wing, their room is on the other side of the palace. They might have woken up... But then, they might not. Do you want to risk it?"

"I don't know," he said darkly. "I guess it depends whether or not I'll get paid this time."

"Is that all you care about?" she asked after a short pause, feeling thrown off guard. "Just money? Doesn't... doesn't anything they did for you matter?"

Miles' face went blank and, for the first time since they had been re-united, he looked unsure. He blinked and shook his head, letting out a frustrated growl.

"Alright. Lead the way, Freedom Fighter," he said.

Amy ran into the hallway, the kids hot on her heels and Miles acting as a rear guard. She spared a moment to wonder what was wrong with him- he was becoming awfully angry awfully quickly- it seemed unnatural. The day before, he had gotten along well with her. So what had changed?

It was not long before they arrived at Bunnie's room, located as it was just outside of the 'school' area. They encountered no Mechanists en route, which was good- fighting had never truly sat well with Amy, and she didn't want to lose any of her kids.

They came to the doorway, where they found it open- and there was noise of what sounded like a struggle inside. She turned into the room, and saw Bunnie in hand-to-hand combat with a dog mech. The rabbit ducked as a metal arm whipped over her head, and caught sight of Amy in the doorway, weapon in hand-

She dove away from the Mechanist whilst Amy fired a round at it, sending it down spinning with a cry.

"Amy! What the hoo-ha is goin' on?!" Bunnie shouted, pulling herself to her feet. The kids moved into the room once more for safety, avoiding the body and the slowly expanding pool of blood beneath it.

"The palace is under attack," she said, helping her friend up. Like her, she was in her night clothes- a white robe that came down to her knees. "Bunnie, we need you to get the kids out of here."

"Wah? Why, where are ya goin' Amy-girl?"

"Miles and I are going to get Sonic and Sally out. Have Antoine and Rotor got back?"

"Nah, not yet, they're scheduled to return tomorrow."

"Damn!"

"Doncha worry Amy, I'll get the kids out. We gonna meet up or anythin'? An where are the guards?"

"We haven't seen any guards anywhere. It's strange, and I'm starting to think that this is an inside job... Get the kids out through one of the passages down near the barracks, take them to the ring pool."

"Full uniform?"

"Yeah, get set before you hit the passage. We'll meet you down, by the pool."

Amy turned away, looking back to Miles who was standing in the doorway. He threw his pistol to Bunnie, and said,

"All right kids, I want you to go with your Aunt Bunnie. She'll take you to where it's safe."

"Where are you goin', Miles?" Cream asked standing close to him due to her confidence in his ability to protect her.

"I'm just going with your teach to wake up Their Royal Highnesses."

"But-! But Miles,"

"Don't worry kid. Nothing's going to happen to you or any of your friends," he said casting a glance over all of the children. "Rabbot will keep you safe, and besides, I'll see you soon."

As Amy left the room and led Miles in the direction of the east wing, she couldn't help but wonder at his protectiveness of the orphans. It was encouraging in a manner, that he would lay down his life for them- inspirational too, but why was he so loyal to their well-being? _Tails_ would have been she guessed, had he grown with them in Knothole, as he _was_ one of them in a manner. But Miles... He was like two different people in the same body.

_Who was he?_

----------

They found them, soon enough.

The trip to the east wing had been eventful, numbering five Mechanist kills thanks to Miles' claws, and three due to Amy's gun. There had been little conversation between the two, just the words of business- such as 'incoming', or 'enemy down'.

Sonic and Sally had been awoken by some of the gunshots, but were confused as to what exactly was going on. They'd explained- well, _Amy_ had explained, but Miles had disappeared for a few moments before returning to the three with a good idea of what had happened to the guards. He'd led them to a body of a mouse who had been stuffed into a service corridor, dressed in a blue and gold uniform (similar to that of Antoine's clothes of old). A mouse whose throat was slit with a neat, deep line.

He didn't tell them, but Miles knew that the kill had been done with almost mechanical timing and precision. The cut was... perfect in every way. A Mechanist would not have been skilled enough to make such an attack, so to his mind, this had been done by the real threat- a Cyborg, probably. Perhaps Shadow- the Snyper? All the thing had to do was to take out the guards on duty, which was clearly no trouble for it, then the mechs could pour in unopposed.

Anyway, whatever it was, it was worthy of his concern. So, he had told Sonic, Sally, and Amy to hurry up and decide what they were going to do.

They'd head to the barraks, get their uniforms, then check the exit Bunnie was going to use. If it was sealed, then they'd head for another secret passage, and meet with her and the kids by the ring pool.

----------

Grid: 86/A/36

Time: 1/42: 201/C

Cross file: AD/I/81/7

Location: Knothole Palace, approaching lobby, ref. 3365/B

Stealth mode engaged, battery time remaining: 1/20: 56/A

Primary objective: terminate ROYAL FAMILY, ref. ACORN, SALLY/HEDGEHOG, SONIC

Secondary objective: SPYDER, search and destroy, ref. PROWER, MILES

HEDGEHOG, priority: 1

ACORN, priority: 2

SPYDER, priority: 3

Primary and secondary objectives sighted

Variable sighted

Action? Options: avoid/engage/capture

...

Engage: ambush, stalk to Grid 86/A/01, send alert to GUYDE: initiate SPYDER anger program

...

Combat mode active, prepare flamer ignition

Order, priorities 1, 2, 3...

Restructuring for circumstance...

Target 1: priority 2: ACORN, SALLY, tailblade

Target 2: priority 3: SPYDER, flamer

Target 3: priority 1: HEDGEHOG, SONIC, tailblade

Target 4: variable: ROSE, AMY, flamer

Cleanse and burn_

----------

The three Freedom Fighters were now suited up and ready to go. Amy still held the sub-machine gun whilst Sally had taken a blaster from the armery to supplement the standard issue plaster pistol at her side. 

Miles had taken no weapon, content to just use his claws- he was better in close combat then in ranged combat anyway, and in these corridors, hand-to-hand was likely. A rifle would just get in the way for him.

Bunnie's suit had gone, and the escape route was indeed sealed- they would have to go another way, and upon sighting a concentration of Mechanists near the backup route they had opted to return up to the lobby. They were entering the large room now, and Sally insisted that there was a passage there that would take them directly out the back, quite near to the ring pool. Hopefully, it had not yet been found.

But Miles was beginning to question whether _they_ had been found. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. His instincts were screaming- something was about to happen, he could _feel_ it. Something-

_There!_

Miles leapt at Sally, and she cried out in fear as his claws extended in a flash. But contrary to how it appeared, he was not attacking her. Instead, he pushed her aside and raised his blades to parry a blow, which whilst almost invisible to the naked eye, he knew to be there. 

A clang signalled that he was correct, and he felt the blade make contact with some off his own. He slashed out, searching for what looked like a bubble of air- and he caught it, sending a shower of sparks down from where it hung from the ceiling.

Like a television, the bubble turned to static, falling to it's feet and facing him. All manner of colours rippled over the figure's surface like liquid, eventually settling on a cold, dull grey. A long segmented metal tail curled up and waved lazily over it's head, a wicked looking blade upon the tip with a blaster muzzle just next to it. Arms outstretched, it's fingers had suction cups on the tips, allowing it to walk upon all manner of surfaces- and in the palms were a pair of holes which, with a flash and a puff, were obscured with small flames.

A Chymeleon class Cyborg- so that was what had opened up the palace so easily. All it had to do was activate it's camouflage technique and it would become practically invisible- tiny cameras built into it scanned the surrounding area, allowing the body glove it wore to adjust itself accordingly to blend in with the environment via thousands of tiny LCD screens. All it had to do was to pick of guards one at a time with cuts to the neck from it's tail.

Beneath the body glove, the creature appeared canine, a wolf perhaps? It was hard to tell, as even it's face was covered by the glove. But the point was moot, anyway, as it raised both hands towards him and engaged the flamethrowers housed there. 

With a yelp, Miles leapt away and off the balcony that ran in an arc around the lobby like a hotel, but he was so close to the blast that he could feel the heat flow over his back. He fell down to the red-carpeted floor and landed in a crouch. The Chymeleon followed, lashing out with it's tail in a wide, deadly arc- Miles dodged and let out a snap-kick to the Cyborg's ribs, then made for a cut with his claws. But it blocked, and fought back with a flurry of blows that Miles was hard pressed to counter.

It let out another burst of flame from it's palms, missing Miles but still catching some of the finely carved wooden pillars that held up the balcony. It fired again, this time catching the carpet, forcing Miles to watch where he stepped with great care- the lobby was quickly turning into how he envisioned hell.

A blue blur shot past him and stuck the Chymeleon, and the mercenary took the opportunity to step back to check where the others were. Mechanists, drawn to the sounds were now entering the large room and Amy and Sally, both now at the base of the stairs, were being hard-pressed to fight them off. Sally was making her way towards them whilst firing off bolts of energy with her blaster, then reached out and pulled at a candlestick. It moved like a lever, and a small segment of the wall underneath the balcony slid back to reveal a hidden passage.

"Come on!" the princess shouted, then cried out. He turned to see what the matter was, catching the sight of the Chymeleon pinning Sonic to the floor, tail raised and ready to deliver the killing blow. Without thinking, Miles jumped at it and lashed out, cutting the tail and disabling it. But the arms were still dangerous and he knew that even if he took them off too, the Cyborg would still try to fight on. So he cut again, this time with an aim for the neck, and took the creature's head off with a spray of blood.

Sonic was on his feet immediately, and looked around himself to make sure the whole group was still together. Sally was in the passage whilst he and Miles were now right in the doorway- where was Amy?

Miles caught sight of her shooting with the sub-machine gun at a pair of Mechanists, and he shouted out to her. She heard, turned, and ran for them whilst avoiding the sporadic fire- but before she could make it to the tunnel, the balcony gave way to the flames burning up the pillars. It collapsed right in front of the door, blocking it and leaving her on one side and Sonic, Sally and Miles on the other.

"Amy!" Miles shouted, and tried to get through the dust and rubble of the collapsed walkway to look for some way to reach her. But there was no way through.

Sonic grabbed his arm, avoiding the blades still emerging from the knuckles as best he could, and shouted into Miles' ear to get his attention. But the fox didn't seem to hear, and continued to reach out to the blocked doorway, crying out Amy's name as Sonic dragged him down the tunnel.

----------

Grid: 487/F/20

Time: 0/591: 02/C

Cross file: AD/2/82/7

Location: Great Forest, lake outskirts, ref. 1943/E

CHYMELION message received, initiate SPYDER anger program

...

Program initiated

Swatbot search pattern initiated

Capture preparation initiated

...

CHYMELION destroyed, alter mission parameters

Restructuring for circumstance...

Primary objective: capture ROYAL FAMILY, ref. ACORN, SALLY/HEDGEHOG, SONIC

Secondary objective: terminate SPYDER, ref. PROWER, MILES

Targets approaching, initiate ambush program, initiate capture program

As the Profit commands_

----------

"You bastard!"

Miles had felt many things for Sonic. Respect, anger, even jealousy. The hedgehog had been his idol, his surrogate father, his older brother and best friend...

But right now, all he wanted to do was kill him.

"I could have saved her!" Miles shouted at the hedgehog who one day would be the king of Knothole, "I could have done something-"

"What would you have done, Miles?" Sonic snapped, just as pissed off as he. Apparently, he wasn't used to being attacked in such a violent verbal manner that the fox had developed over the years.

"I would have got through the rubble, I would have dug-"

"No one could have dug through all of that!"

"And how should _you_ know, huh?! How would _you_ fucking well know what I'm capable of?!"

He didn't even realise that he was doing it until it was done, and Sonic was on the ground, wheezing from the kick to the chest he had given him. Miles knelt down with a set of blades to the hedgehog's throat, ready and willing to slit it and let him bleed and gasp there, let him bleed whilst he added a few more cuts all over-

Mile stopped when he saw Sonic's frightened eyes, and in that moment he wondered what, just what, was he doing? Why... Why was he so angry? Amy wouldn't be dead, Sally had told him that she knew all the escape routes around the palace (and there were a lot of them).

He'd never seen this look on Sonic, though. Sonic never got scared of anything, least of all him.

What was he doing?

The unnatural rage, the hatred was still there, and it was stronger than he'd ever felt it- but he was able to turn it away before he exposed Sonic's insides to the world. He roared, looking for some way to release it, and stepped away from Sonic. He ignored the hedgehog as he scrambled to his feet, now wary of his... 'best bud'.

Even in this state, a movement caught his eye. He turned, and saw there in the forest, clear as day, a... Cyborg.

But he had never seen this design before.

It was built around an adult fox, one whose fur pattern bore a striking resemblance to Miles' own; orange fur with white patches in what appeared to be all the same places. The top of it's head was covered with a metal cap, like a helmet that reached down to cover it's eyes. Where they eyes should be were numerous glowing red orbs as a replacement, making it look like an insect or a spider of some kind. 

Various parts of it's body were covered with metal plates, grafted into the skin as was so often the case with these things. But, oddly, it appeared to have no weaponry.

"Well done Spyder, you served your purpose well," it said abruptly in a purely metallic voice.

Wait... A Cyborg, talking?

"Who the hell are you?" Miles demanded, glad to have something to turn his anger on. But, rapidly, the rage was... fading.

"Designation: Guyde class Cyborg," it answered in a way that was so dull yet sinister that only a machine could manage it. As it did so, metal tentacles whipped out from hidden machines in the trees and grabbed both Sonic and Sally, pulling them high into the air and depositing them into well-camouflaged hover-vehicles. They cries were abruptly cut as the vechicles closed up, and Miles found that he suddenly felt... worthless.

"Let them go!" he shouted brandishing his claws.

"Don't pretend to be angry, Spyder. You cannot feel such an emotion truthfully, not without my intervention, and I shall not grant it to you."

He stopped.

"What?"

"But you no longer need to feel it, anyway. You are obsolete. You served your purpose in leading us here and distracting the hedgehog, but that is all you were needed for. The Profit demands your death. So it shall be done."

"That's... That isn't true, I couldn't have brought you here!" Miles shouted. "I would never betray... Sonic and Aunt Sally..."

_'The hell?'_ he shouted at himself. Why was he talking about them like he would have when he was still a child? Why was he giving in so easily to this Cyborg?

"Your comrades are captured. You have nothing to fight on for. Hand over your flesh, Spyder."

That was true- Sonic and Sally were in their hands now. The transports were already moving away, and he could see glints of metal signalling the approach of a large number of swatbots. But the kids... They know of them? Perhaps... Perhaps he could help them?

It was a fair enough idea. Besides, it would allow him to get as far away from this... Guyde as possible.

So, he did the one thing he could do.

He ran.

A jump over a fallen tree and a cut through a bush, Miles desperately hoped that his route was correct. This area of the Great Forest was vaguely familiar to him, and the simple innocence of the place made him feel as though he had played here when he was little. But that was a long time ago, and back then he at least knew that the machine over the ring pool was intact. Nowadays, he didn't even know if it was still there.

But, the group of kids and Bunnie were easy enough to spot, and when he did, he could see that this was indeed a trap of sorts. They only had one pistol between the twenty-eight of them, and Walkers knew how much ammo it had left. Against them was a horde of swatbots, stomping towards them with intent to either kill or capture- one fell to Bunnie's gun before it clicked dry, but the numerous others, if anything, made Miles run faster.

He reached them, jumping from a rotting log by the side of the ring pool – noticing out of the corner of his eye that the ring machine was still there – and severing the first swatbot's head with a slash of his claws. It fell in a shower of sparks, giving the mercenary enough cover to move almost unseen to charge the next by spinning around the falling body and stabbing with both sets of blades into it's torso.

That one fell too, and Miles took the break between that one and the next one (now charging as it was), to look back to those he was trying so hard to protect.

"Run!" he shouted to them, immediately facing the next behemoth of metal bearing down on him. The swatbots were still overly large, just like the had been during his childhood and with it were pretty heavy, but that was not enough to stop this one being thrown into the air by the metal-skeleton-and-enhanced-muscle uppercut that Miles gave it.

He cut at the next one's legs, tripping it forward with a limb missing. It was finished off with six blades to the back, cutting the important cables that ran down it's spine and sending it silent. It's friend came up on Miles instead of the kids and Bunnie this time, forcing the mercenary to tackle is head-on- the machine found both it's arms missing rather quickly as he jumped up onto it's chest, finally eliminating it by gauging it's robotic eyes out from behind its visor. 

Miles dropped back down and stepped out from the still swatbot's shadow, once more yelling for the Mobians to run and to quit standing and staring at him in a stupor.

It was around then that he was first nailed with a blaster bolt.

He looked up to where they were coming from, to see a few more machines emerging over a ridge. Two more were there, aiming at him with their energy weapons... 

They were coordinating attacks against him. A few were engaging in hand-to-hand, whilst one or two would stand back and shoot- and no matter what he did, no matter how well he fought, he just could not win.

Another stuck and he doubled over, coughing up blood. 

It was all in slow motion. His eyes fell, lazily, to look at the Mobians he had been doing his best to defend. They all watched with wide, disbelieving eyes.

'Well done, Spyder. You served your purpose well.'

And it finally occurred to him, after ten years. Spyder, his designation- he knew that Robotnik enjoyed naming his machines in a manner that would hint at their abilities. The Snyper, for example, was an excellent shot.  The Spyder, though... He'd always assumed that he was supposed to be as agile as a spider, but of course- spy-der. He was a spy, an unwilling one, but still a spy. Without even realising it, he'd done exactly as the Mechanists wanted- they must have been able to track him somehow, so he'd been like a big neon sign saying 'Knothole is here', and even if that was not enough, he'd been the perfect distraction for the royal family whilst this... kidnapping took place.

This was all _his_ fault.

Unable to comprehend the sheer magnitude of what he had realised, of what he had done, the Spyder did the only thing he could think of. He let out a scream of hatred, searching inside himself for the anger that was always there, always bottled up and ready to be released in the berserker rage that had never failed him-

But...

It was gone.

He felt hollow, empty. Abandoned, once more, just like he had been when Sonic and Sally had narrowly saved him from death and instead given him exile. But, they had saved him, given him another chance even if a harsh one, and he had rewarded them with... Betrayal.

And the anger was not there. Even with his old parental figures on his mind.

He leapt at the nearest swatbot, but his movements were slowed and his body burned. He didn't even make five feet towards the machine when a third, final blaster bolt threw him down and into the base of a nearby tree.

The cries from Bunnie, Cream, Tom, and all of the other kids sounded to him like they were coming from beneath water. Hazy, inaccurate- nothing to his mind, anymore, lost in guilt and self-hatred as he was.

The swatbots ignored him now, moving past his still form and grabbing the Mobians. They reached out for him, crying his name, but he couldn't hear them. He was left for dead.

_'Damn,'_ he thought, and his claws slowly pulled back into his forearms.

...

Yes, this is where he was.

...

It was dark, history having played through his mind. But it was over now, so...

Miles woke up.

**Note:** I'm hoping I made it clear enough above, but the ending of this chapter relates back to the beginning of the story. So yes, all that has happened so far was an extended flashback of sorts... 


	8. Fumbling the Ball

O_O Woah! I'm stunned by the feedback I received on the last chapter, I really am. Never before have I had such a string of positive comments, so I must thank you all- you've really made me feel good about this little story of mine. :-) 

And not only that; I've received fanart, too! Trilliah has sent me two awesome pictures of Miles since the last chapter was posted, and I tell ya folks, I can't describe the feeling of seeing a contribution like that pop up in my inbox. It is just incredible! With her permission, I've uploaded them, and you can see them by following the HomePage link in my profile.

As for this chapter, well, I'm a little nervous. It seems too fast paced to me so I'll probably come back to it at some point. But, I've gone over it so many times that I just want to get it out the way and posted. *_* I know it's a bit shorter too, but rest assured, chapter 9 will be a return to form. 

Anyway, enough from me, and I hope that you enjoy chapter 8 of Spyder. Please R+R! :-)

Chapter 8: Fumbling the Ball 

For the fifth time in as many minutes, Thomas Bowen – Tom to his friends – walked over to the large bared window that formed an entire wall of their cell and looked out of it forlornly. They'd been here for almost a week, 'they' being Cream, Pepsi, Skip, Jeremy, and his girlfriend Carol. Before this had started he'd have never expected it, but, increasingly, the sense of fear at being captured was being replaced with that of boredom.

Nothing seemed to be happening. Nothing at all. They had just been split randomly into groups by the swatbots, hauled and dumped into these cells, then left alone for no apparent purpose. A while ago, perhaps a day (that was purely a guess as there was no real way of telling time in here), the seven of them had made a game of guessing why they were here. That hadn't lasted long, as they had all agreed that it was probably for a ransom.

They had also found, not too long ago, that there was a very small hole in both side walls, which led into the room next to them. There were more cells on either side, one of which contained Aunt Bunnie, Sonic Hedgehog, and Princess Acorn, as well as some more kids from the orphanage. They were in a similar state and, by the sound of it; Sonic was going crazy at being confined and therefore unable to run about.

The window that Tom was looking out of was in the true style of a stereotypical prison. Despite being far larger than one would have expected (as it took up most of the wall from ceiling to floor), it still had bars running vertically down to keep them from breaking out. The bars were made from a strange metal- there was a similar window in Sonic's cell, and he hadn't been able to break through. Just beyond was some kind of glass, bullet and blaster proof, it seemed. Banging on it hadn't done a thing.

But, even if they were to get past both the bars and the glass, beyond it was a long drop down to the grey metal floor. And there was no way out above them either, thanks to a similar grey ceiling. It was like the room was designed to allow the captor to observe his or her prisoners... Like a display for a collection of Mobians.

Suddenly, the door slid open with a hydraulic hiss. The noise attracted the attention of everyone in the room, and they were met with the sight of two swatbots; one entered with purposeful strides, whilst the other remained on guard in the doorway.

The first stopped and looked around the room. It's head paused as it looked at each cowering Mobian in turn, as if scanning them for some unknown purpose. When it came to Tom, it appeared to find what it was looking for.

It stepped forward and grabbed the young wolf harshly by the scruff of his neck. He yelped as it lifted him clean from the floor, struggling against it's iron grip. His classmates attacked it with feeble punches, but it paid no notice. What good could unarmed children do against such a war machine?

As the two robots took him to some unknown destination in this strange place, Tom, oddly, could only wish that he were bored again.

----------

"...incredible."

"Yes, the staff and I had a similar reaction when we saw it happen for ourselves. Simply being told about something can never compare to seeing it for yourself, I suppose."

Miles slowly opened his eyes, the voices nearby sounding faint and distant- though whether that was because they were talking quietly as not to wake him, or that he had a pounding headache, he could not tell.

His bones ached. This head hurt. And he found it a little difficult to breathe, as though something was pressing down on his chest. He felt completely out of it, as though he had been pulled back from the brink of death.

With a groan, the fox rather clumsily sat up in the bed, blinking and looking around. He was in the hospital again and he frowned, scanning his muddled up memory to try to figure out why he was here. Amy and Dr. Quack stood conversing at the foot of the bed, and it didn't take them very long to realise that he was watching them.

"Mr. Prower, you had us worried for a while," Quack said with a smile that didn't seem to reach his eyes. "If only others were as lucky as you... I'm afraid I can't stay, so I'll leave you with Miss Rose. Other patients to see, you understand..."

The duck left the room talking to himself quietly, clearly under a great deal of strain. Amy watched him leave sadly, whilst Miles blinked and looked at her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked once the doctor had left, smiling and moving up to the side of his bed. 

The pressure on his chest, now annoying him slightly, caused him to look down- bandages were wrapped around his torso from just below his arms to his waist. 

"Like I've been shot," he said. Amy responded with a morbidly amused smile.

"You have. Three times in the chest by swatbot blasters. You should be dead."

That triggered it, and the memories hit him in full strength. 

"The kids-?" he blurted, looking at her with sudden panic. She looked away, as if unable to meet his eyes.

"We couldn't find them... But there have been no bodies, so there might not be dead!" she replied, sounding as though she were trying to reassure herself just as much as she was him.

"No, they aren't dead," he said quietly. "They've been captured. Bunnie, Sonic and Sally too. I saw swatbots grab them before I blacked out." He cave her a small smile, "But at least you're okay. I didn't think you'd make it when that door collapsed."

She didn't seem to hear his comment as her shoulders sagged, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from them. She breathed out a sigh of relief. 

"A, uh... A lot of people have gone missing since the attack. We've found a lot of bodies, but they don't compare to the number missing... I suppose they were all captured too." She frowned. "I wonder, why didn't they take you?"

She was right, he _should_ be dead. And not just because he had taken three blaster bolts to the chest but because, as far as he was concerned, this was his fault.

'Well done Spyder, you served your purpose well.'

"I guess they thought I was dead," he muttered, doing his best to ignore the words of the Guyde. "Amy, how long have I been out?"

"About week or so. I escaped the palace through another passage and ran into some Freedom Fighters. We found you in the forest, and well, it was quite a sight. Destroyed machines everywhere, and you lying right in the middle of it. I thought you'd died, I was so scared... But you still had a pulse. We brought you back into Knothole and took you to Quack- he did the rest." She smiled sadly at him. "It's amazing... that you lived. But I'm glad you did."

Miles couldn't share that opinion. There had been many times where he wished he was dead- a part of him craved it even, and now it was back stronger than ever.

"Wait," he asked as a thought occurred to him, "we're in Knothole still?"

"Yes, in the hospital."

"But... the attack?"

Miles found it confusing- why would they be back in a town that had recently been attacked and, by the sounds of things, had a good chunk of its population captured or killed in the process? 

"The machines," Amy said, "left suddenly. A few minutes before we found you actually, as if they had what they came for and had completed their mission."

"I suppose they were looking for Sonic and Sally... or the kids."

Slowly, he climbed out of the bed and looked around for his jacket. Not seeing it anywhere, he looked to Amy with a questioning expression.

"Uh, your coat was practically destroyed, so... we got rid of it."

Miles' expression darkened. All of his money was in that thing.

"Did you check the pockets?" he asked.

"No, we didn't see any... there was too much blood on it."

The mercenary began to massage the side of his muzzle in annoyance.

 "Amy, you do understand that I'm expecting to be very well paid because of all of this, don't you?"

"Yes, I know. And you will be, I promise, we just need you for one more job."

It was cruel, he knew, to be asking about his money so soon. But to be fair, they did owe him, not only for getting Amy, Bunnie and Cream back here safely, but compensation for destroying everything he owned too. And he knew full well that he couldn't move away from here without funds of some kind.

"What is this other job?" Miles asked.

"Rotor and Antoine returned from a mission with two squads of Freedom Fighters just after the machines left. A few of the Mechanists hung around, Walkers know why, and those of us left plus the reinforcements were able to take them all out.

"The dead mechs of course aren't really much help now, but the swatbots that you destroyed are. Rotor thinks he can salvage the memory banks from one of them and find where they are coming from... And there is a good chance that wherever the 'bots are, their captives are too. We're going to lunch a rescue attempt."

A rescue, eh? Well, he was certain then and there that he was going with it. Not only would he be paid for it, but he'd be able to move on with a clear conscience afterwards. Guilt without anger led him to bouts of depression, and he was no good at fighting those off. The results of the last low point he had hit had not been pretty, neither physically nor emotionally.

Still, Amy didn't need to know about any of that.

"I'm in," he said firmly, and she smiled.

----------

In a finely furnished office many miles from Knothole, mayor David Raid leaved forward over his beautifully crafted hardwood desk. He was a man of the world, a man of experience who knew how people acted and thus how to use their individual talents to benefit the whole. This of course was not surprising- he had at one time been a leader of a southern Freedom Fighter force, appointed by Princess Sally Acorn herself. Only his own ambition had prevented him from uniting the Chestnut province under Knothole's rule, as he wanted some responsibility above that of a warrior for himself. So he had become mayor of this city, and not a moment too soon either- how many others would have been able to make the decisions he had?

Especially one important choice. At first he had been completely opposed, but as time progressed he had come round to see his opponent's point of view. And that was why the forty-two year old grey wolf was currently in a meeting with one of his more... loyal allies.

"Snivley has fumbled the ball," he said flatly to a black and red hedgehog, who stood silently in the middle of the room. "He encouraged hostilities just like he was supposed to, but in the process went a little too far. He has captured the Knothole royal family. When they break out..." he paused, "and we all know that they will... there is a good chance that they will find out too much. He has put the entire plan in jeopardy, and this is an extremely critical stage. We cannot afford mistakes like this."

Snivley had messed up badly. The small human was intelligent, more so than even Dr. Robotnik he suspected, but like his uncle he was subject to fits of anger and a severe lack of patience. Perhaps he had hoped to gain approval from their lord by capturing the great Sonic the Hedgehog, or perhaps he wanted revenge for the attack on Robotropolis years ago and the injuries he had received from it. Either way, he was putting a great deal of planning at risk, and that was unacceptable.

"Our lord has had enough of him. He is to be terminated."

The Cyborg looked at him blankly but Raid was not to be fooled by it's apparent stupidity. He knew full well that this particular Snyper was probably the most dangerous Cyborg in existence due to it being essentially a walking arsenal. Even with his own modifications, Raid doubted that he'd last more than ten seconds against it.

"Spyder, reference Prower, Miles, status?" it asked abruptly with a hollow metallic voice. One of the things that Raid was most thankful for was that he didn't have the blank mind of the Snyper, and didn't talk in such a computerised manner. Briefly he had thought that he was lucky, but it dawned upon him shortly after that his lord probably intended it this way. How would he have remained in power otherwise?

"Probably dead. Snivley is just like you, he always thought that it ought to be destroyed. If you see it however, it is not to be harmed, understand?"

"Affirmative."

He'd never understood his lord's obsession with that particular Cyborg and the constant reminders that it was to remain unharmed. Miles Prower was a threat to them, so why not just eliminate him when the opportunity was there? But still, orders dictated that he was to be kept alive and the lord knew what he was doing, he hoped.

"You are to go to Snivley's bunker immediately and kill him before he ruins everything. We still have that hover car those Knothole Freedom Fighters brought here, use that for speed and so that you don't stand out to anyone when you pass the Great Forest. If you find that he has robotisized any of the captives, then they are to be destroyed- however; any he has begun to turn any into Cyborgs are to be left intact. He won't have had time to get far into the process because it takes to long to set up, and having mechs appear in the Freedom Fighter ranks will only serve to help us. Upon completion of your mission, you are to return here. Understood?"

"It shall be done," the hedgehog said, disappearing out the door and into the shadows in the hallway a moment later. He knew that a machine that looked so much like a mech must not be seen within the New Quarter of Chestnut else things might get out of control- but then, this one would not. It had a talent for stealth, so it would be fine- it would not upset the fragile balance of tension he had worked so hard to achieve in this city.

Having dealt with that bit of business, Raid found he had a high priority notice waiting for him from his chief of police. Apparently, a vigilante gang of norms had murdered a mech family in the Old Quarter just half an hour ago.

Raid grinned.

----------

Amy only stayed in the hospital room for a short while, leaving not long after Miles' confirmation that he would help. She told Miles that she would be back with some new clothes for him, and she did return, though an hour later than she had expected, her excuse being that she had to check on when a meeting would be held to discuss the finer points of the upcoming mission. As it turned out they were ready to go, the only factor remaining being whether or not the mercenary would help- and now that he was awake, and had agreed, things could proceed. A meeting would be held in the evening.

Miles was not entirely pleased with the clothes she had brought. They were those of a Freedom Fighter trooper, consisting of a black shirt under a thin grey-blue jacket and trousers. The jacket featured silver trim, so complete with a set of boots the thing looked somewhat like a step-down from the blue and gold Royal Guard uniform.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable in his new clothes, Miles had gone to the cafeteria to get something to appease his empty stomach. Amy had gone with him, for which he was thankful- having someone to take his attention away from his own thoughts was just what he needed right now. 

The meeting began shortly after, just as it began to rain outside. Miles found himself being led into a semi-circular shaped room, stepped seats running up the curved wall like a lecture theatre. At the front was a platform, a stage for presentations, whilst behind on the flat wall was a large computer screen. Amy identified the room as the war room- a far cry from the hut he remembered.

"Ah, meester Prower," Antoine greeted with a smile as he was shown to a seat near the front of the room. "I am glad that you will be helping us with zis mission to rescue the Princess."

"Um, yeah," he muttered, looking around at the others who had come to this little event. Most seats were now taken, filled with Mobians of various species, all wearing uniforms similar to what he had been given not too long ago. They all looked serious and sombre, talking amongst themselves in groups of five or six. "So these are the army officials, right?"

There was a pause, broken by Amy's quiet intervention.

"Not quite, Miles... This _is_ the army."

"-wha?!" he hissed, spinning to look away from the Mobains and back at the hedgehog and coyote. "But- but there's barely sixty people here!"

"Unfortunately, zis is all that is left of our glorious army," Antoine said with an odd mixture of shame and pride. Miles stared at him.

"You're going to take on that machine army with... this?!"

The captain of the almost-destroyed elite Royal Guard bristled at his words. "I'll vill have you know that my men are ze eliteist warriors Mobius has ever known!"

"Yes, I don't doubt that," he replied tersely knowing full well how sensitive Antoine could be, "but there's hardly any of them... And a hell of a lot of swatbots and Mechanists."

"Don't worry Tails- uh, Miles, we have that covered," came a new voice. He turned to see the visage of a walrus wearing a baseball cap backwards. It could only be Rotor.

"I hope so," he growled. "With these odds, you don't stand a chance."

"But it won't stay like this for long, I'm pretty sure of that. You'll see. Ant, we should get started."

He moved down to the stage with Antoine in tow, and began to tap some commands into a computer console to the side. The lights in the room darkened a little as those around the stage brightened, and all conversation stopped.

"We know where they are," Rotor began simply, getting straight to the point. A murmur of surprise ran around the room, though Miles found that he didn't share their change to optimistic expressions.

"We were able to salvage one of the swatbots from the attack last week," the walrus continued as an image of one of the machines appeared on the wall screen behind him, "and it appears that their design is almost exactly the same as the ones we fought against Robotnik. It was a simple job to get into it's memory banks and with that done we have access to everything we need to know- location of it's home base, orders... anything."

He turned back to the computer as Antoine took the spotlight.

"We have found zat ze swatbots were sent to capture ze royal family, which zey managed much to our dismay. Zey have taken them to a base, hidden underground north of the Great Forest. We may be out-numbered and out-gunned, we may not have that fuelish hedgehog here, and we may be walking into ze very jaws of death, but of course we are to mount a rescue as soon as possible. Nothing shall stand between us and our victory!"

The captain of the Royal Guard seemed to be inflated with pride at the end of his miniature speech, standing ramrod straight with eyes closed and hands clasped tightly behind his back, as if expecting a cheer of support. When none came he opened an eye, finding all of the soldiers looking around nervously, Amy with her face planted in her hands, and Miles staring at him as if waiting for something.

A moment later, Antoine realised what he had just said. A five-year-old girl would be hard pressed to match the squeal of fright that he let out.

"What about the Mechanists?" Miles asked loudly, catching Rotor's attention. "We're going to have to fight them too, you know."

"Yes Miles," he replied, "but from reports of the attack they are not very skilled warriors. We should have no trouble against them."

Miles knew that this mission was going ahead regardless of the odds against them, so he decided that it was probably best not to point out that it would only take one lucky shot for them to score a kill. The Freedom Fighter troopers would need all the confidence they could get if they were to pull this one off.

The meeting/briefing droned on, and the mercenary began to wonder about things which he felt to be more important for the moment, main question being: should he go at all?

Sure, he felt guilty that this had happened in the first place, and he wanted to amend for his mistake in some way but- Swatbots hadn't been seen for years until just recently, and it was odd that they always turned up near to him. The first time was awfully convenient too- they attacked just as the Freedom Fighters turned up, so to find Knothole all they'd had to do was injure him. Sonic and Sally did the rest. 

That explained why Shadow hadn't killed him, at least. But on the other hand, it deeply troubled him. The Guyde seemed to have some control over his actions, and a capacity for reading his thoughts too- who was to say that it hadn't been monitoring him for years? _That_ would explain the attack on the way back to Knothole. He'd intended to avoid the city completely, ruining any chance for them to follow him there.

So, who was to say that it wasn't controlling him now? Influencing his decision to help?

That whole idea frightened him. The Guyde's words had been final, and it and the swatbots definitely wanted him dead. They probably thought he was dead, too. But, if they found that he wasn't... he couldn't face hurting people on his own side again. He didn't want to betray them... 

He didn't want to betray Sonic and Aunt Sally. 

----------

Two hours later, the meeting was over. As he still didn't know the area well, Amy led Miles back to his room quietly. Her mind was quite active though, all the way wondering at the sombre breaks in his usually harsh expression. Something was on his mind, something important, and she intended to find out exactly what it was.

As they entered his room, she walked over to the window to witness the pouring rain and grey sky outside. Not really knowing how to question him as to find what exactly the trouble was, she decided that being bold was going to be the best option.

"Are you alright, Miles?" she asked, not turning but remaining by the window. Had she looked at him, then she would have witnessed the harsh lines of his face soften as he let go of the mask of indifference, the expression that he always seemed to wear. 

Miles couldn't keep it up anymore. Not here, not with her. 

The rain poured down outside, and Amy felt a gust of wind flow through the room. She shivered in response, and began to rub her arms in an attempt to generate some warmth. As she waited for him to answer, he took moment to organise his jumbled thoughts.

"How do you do it?" Miles eventually asked quietly. She blinked, and turned around to see him looking incredibly tense. Whatever was troubling him was not an easy topic for him to speak openly about, apparently.

"Do what?"

"How can you be so confident?"

It took a while for her to formulate an answer for that one, strange question as it was. 

"Because I know that everything will be alright," she said. "We're going to get everyone back, and then sort out why this is happening so that it doesn't happen again."

"Amy..." he muttered, slumping forwards under the weight of some unseen pressure. From this angle he looked so different to her, not a cold-hearted mercenary, but instead simply a confused young man.

"At the meeting, everyone seemed to, to _know_ that there would be a happy ending to all this. They are all so certain that we can beat a few swatbots, find the captives quickly and get them out without a problem.

"But it won't be like that. A lot of people, your allies, are going to die tomorrow. And no one seems to realise it. We don't stand a chance in hell against all those machines and Mechanists."

"But..." she gawped, completely thrown out. True, she hadn't known him all that long, but Miles just didn't talk like this! She had never heard him so certain that they were going to fail. It didn't suit him at all; he was wise (though embittered) to the workings of the world, and so far had always used that to his advantage. 

So... she wondered. He wasn't the sort of person to commit himself to something that he knew he couldn't win. If he honestly thought that they were doomed to failure tomorrow, then he would have pulled out of Freedom Fighter employment immediately. 

He was covering for something. Both logic and women's' intuition allowed no other answer.

"Miles, tell me, what's wrong?" she asked, walking directly up to him and placing her hands on his shoulders. He refused to look at her, instead concentrating on the floor. 

He murmured something.

"What?"

"I think they followed me here," he repeated louder. "I'm... I'm one of them."

"No... No!" she replied quickly. He was desperate for reassurance, which was unsurprising really- Walkers knew, he'd been denied it long enough. "Miles, you aren't one of them! You're your own person, you here me? You are what you want to be, and no one can take that away from you."

Slowly his eyes rose to hers, so she gave him an encouraging smile.

"And even if they did follow you, if they find us tomorrow because you're there, you'll show them what a mistake they made, right?"

"But Amy... I _am_ one of them. I'm a Mech."

"I don't care. You're still _you_, Miles. That's all that matters to me."

He looked at her sceptically, and she knew he didn't believe her. So, before she could even think what she was doing, she leaned forwards and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Realisation of what she had done struck her an instant later, and she pulled back sharply to witness him staring at her with surprised, confused eyes.

He made no other outward reaction. He didn't say anything, he didn't move, he didn't even blink- he just stared, as if not really knowing what to do or how to react.

Amy, on the other hand, felt like her face was on fire.

"Um... uh, you should get some sleep," she said. "You only got out of hospital today, so, uh, you're probably tired, right?"

Miles didn't reply. He just continued to watch her. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Miles. Sleep well. And don't worry... You'll feel better in the morning."

Amy left quietly, closing the door behind her as she did so. She leant up against the wall, careful to avoid the marks of battle left from last week.

It wasn't long until her hand came up and gently touched her lips. 

----------

Many miles from Knothole, a frightened fourteen-year-old wolf, strapped down onto what could only be described as a mockery of a hospital operating table, shivered with fear.

"Wh... what are you going to do to me?" he asked as his jaw trembled. 

It was cold here, so cold.

"I'm going to improve you," replied a nasal voice from a strange creature with a few wisps of wavy hair from atop it's bald head. "It's been a while since I've worked on a canine as young as you, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a bit rusty. But don't worry, you'll be better in the morning."

Aesthetic pumped into the wolf's body. He only managed a whimper of fear before the cold consumed him and his world went dark.

It would be the last time that Thomas Bowen saw the world through his own eyes.


	9. A Funny Little Habit

Well, I said I'd be back to form with this chapter regarding length, and I think I've made it. This is the longest chapter so far, being 33 pages according to Word... my personal best! :-D 

Solidchristian_88, sorry for being a meanie! I hope this chapter makes you feel better... for a while... *snicker*

Asher Tye, it's not really a spoiler so I can answer as long as I don't go into much detail. Merlin is yet to play an important role... what that is exactly though, you'll have to wait and see. ;-)

Once more I thank and humbly bow down to you all for the wonderful reviews that you're giving. I hope this chapter doesn't dissapoint!

Chapter 9: A Funny Little Habit 

Miles felt like shit.

He had barely had a few hours of sleep last night, and why? Because of thoughts running rampant in his mind of what was going to happen today. Whether or not he would betray the Freedom Fighters without knowing it, whether or not he would get killed, and whether or not the mission would succeed. There had been other thoughts too as he lay there staring at the ceiling, one of the most of which being his somewhat screwed up state of mind.

There was no denying it, and no matter how much he hated it he couldn't ignore the truth- everything seemed so damn mellow. This, he supposed, was how normal emotions felt. Having had his emotions increased in their intensity years ago when he was transformed into this hybrid of flesh and metal, this, in comparison to what he had before, felt so dull! 

It wasn't that Miles' feelings now _were_ dull of course, or that he was _really_ emotionless; to expound, it was like having a torch shone directly in your eyes and then walking into a darker room. He needed to adjust from the previous intensity to the new level of stimulation, and surprisingly... to some new feelings as well.

The single most powerful thing on his mind had been Amy. He just hadn't been able to get her out of his head. That had been a first, he'd never thought about a girl for more than a few minutes at a time, and never like _that_ either. He kept thinking how pretty she looked, and that had annoyed him. It was like being a teenager or something, so he had grabbed onto his comparatively mellow anger and held it, comforted by its vague familiarity.

And to top it off, when he had _finally_ drifted off to sleep, he'd gone and had a nightmare of when he'd woke on a harsh metal table in Robotropolis, the operation to put in his claws still in progress. That, he could honestly say, was the single most horrifying event of his entire life. 

All of this combined was why he was so pissed off right now. It wasn't a... _strong_ feeling by his standards, but Miles would be damned if he was going to ignore it.

"Stupid collar," he muttered whilst tugging on it for the umpteenth time, all the while eyeing the next part of the uniform he had been conned (in his opinion) into wearing- the flak armour vest.

He didn't like this thing. Not at all, and, hell, he only had the jumpsuit on so far!

This was Amy's doing. Damn it, why did she have to be so good at arguing? After the wake up alarm had gone around the dorm area of the palace, he'd found a note poking out from beneath his door. That note had given him orders from 'high command' that he was to report to the barracks to be issued with 'Freedom Fighter MKII Powered Armour'. Which was strange, he thought, because 'high command' were Sonic and Sally, and they were hardly able to give him orders right now.

He'd wondered who it was for a moment, but Antoine didn't really have the gall to try to force him into it, and Rotor didn't have the will to either. Amy was the only leader remaining who would try this, so he'd asked her about it, somewhat awkwardly thanks to last night, at breakfast- her similarly awkward answer told that he had been right.

Apparently, morale had been low amongst the troops last night after the meeting. So, in a bid to improve it, Amy had told a few of them that he was Miles Prower, Sonic the Hedgehog's old sidekick, and that he was going to fight with them. Word had spread like wildfire, and so she thought it best that he wear one of the leader uniforms to follow through with it, to 'inspire them to fight on'. Hence the note. Miles had been able to see the wisdom in that move, because he knew full well that they'd need all the help they could get- so he had agreed... grudgingly.

That hadn't eased his conscious though.

In all honesty, Miles didn't feel worthy of wearing it. It was just like he had told Sonic and Sally when they had presented it to him before, he didn't feel like he deserved such a thing. He wasn't the right sort of person to be a Freedom Fighter.

The anger didn't surface, either. 

But it still had to be done, and on the plus side it would increase his chances of surviving long enough to find the kids. There was no armour better than this in all of Mobius, and on the odd chance that he came out in one piece afterwards, perhaps they'd let him keep it as a reward for his service. Granted it was known as Freedom Fighter equipment and proudly displayed Freedom Fighter markings, but he'd be able to work on that. A lick of paint would work wonders.

So he was putting it on now... but truth be told, he'd still rather just have his jacket back.

"Okay, the vest now, right?" he asked Antoine, the only other person in the armoury room with him, as he stood with both arms out at his sides. It was only when he'd got the uniform from the hanger that he had noticed that it was constructed in layers; the baggy black jumpsuit had no flak plates attached directly to it. Instead, they were mounted onto a vest which was worn over the jumpsuit. The shoulder pads hung from the top of the armholes and were secured with leather straps that ran under the armpits.

"Oui, just put it on over your head, meester Prower," Antoine answered before turning back to his own uniform. The coyote was already busy putting on the last part, the shin guards, by use of straps similar to the ones that secured the shoulder pads. Miles eyed him for a moment, wondering how he had managed to get his on so fast- probably drilled into him, he decided.

Turning back to his own suit, the mercenary pulled on the black vest which was a little more difficult than expected thanks to the grey plates. The shoulder pads, one grey and the other orange, were secured quickly after which he turned his attention to the utility belt.

The belt held numerous pouches (for things like flares and explosives he found upon opening a few) and a holster for a blaster pistol. The pistol was more bulky than he would have liked, being constructed in three sections- the grip, the blocky energy pack, and the barrel which looked like a short, thick silencer.

The gauntlets followed, and once they were securely attached with more leather straps Antoine pointed out a small switch on the left one. Miles flicked it, and a few of the seven LEDs lit up- pink, white, yellow... and orange. A wire protruding from the back of the jumpsuit arm plugged into it, which carried power up the arm, across the back and then down the other arm where another plug fitted into the other gauntlet. This made the radio operable.

The boots were straightforward, standard military style with laces. Unfortunately they were little tight- but he wouldn't complain. It didn't matter a whole lot anyway, and besides, everything else fit quite well. Not perfect, but good enough, and at least there was a larger hole in the back of the jumpsuit for both of his tails to poke through.

The final piece was the shin guards, in the same style as all the other flak plates- angular in shape and dull grey in colour. 

So there he stood, Miles Prower, in the uniform that had been intended and constructed for Tails. The Freedom Fighters had finally got their way. 

That thought really pissed him off... well, as much as it could under his rather unique circumstance, anyway.

With a approving smile and a nod, Antoine led Miles out of the armoury and onto the dusty streets of Knothole. This was the first time he had really been out here without trying to avoid anyone, so he took the opportunity to admire the strange camouflaged architecture of this, new, Knothole. The buildings looked like small green hills, a stark contrast to the harsh and imposing structures of Chestnut.

It wasn't long before they came to the main street that ran from the palace up to the city gates. Standing in formation outside the palace was what was left of the Knothole army; almost sixty Mobians of various races, all wearing their blue-grey uniforms and holding black blaster rifles. They were divided into ten squads of four or five troopers and a sergeant, and each squad was assigned it's own transport in the form of a military issue hover-car. At the head of the group stood Amy, Rotor (both of whom were already in their black and grey suits), and a fully-grown green dragon. Rotor saw the two approaching, and said something quietly to Amy. She looked over to them, smiled, then gestured for the soldiers to go to their transports.

"You, uh, you look good," Amy said to Miles relatively smoothly once they were close enough. He raised an eyebrow.

"I feel like a tank," he replied flatly, tapping his chest armour. She grinned. 

"I know, but you'll get used to it. Don't worry." Having greeted the mercenary, she looked over to Antoine to receive any last minute instructions. Though the coyote wasn't the most skilled leader, nor the best fighter, he _was_ the Captain of the Royal Guard and with that came a lot of tactical training. He was therefore the most qualified to take over leadership in the absence of the Royal Family, which was why he had been placed mostly in control of the meeting yesterday. 

"Lieutenant Rose, are we ready now to depart?" he asked in that French accent of his.

"Yes Captain. The troops are getting into their transports now, and weapons are ready. We're the only ones left."

"Good. You are to take command of squad Page's transport, and Meester Prower is to go with you. Lieutenant Rotor is to remain with me on ze command vehicle."

"Who is staying behind to guard Knothole, sir?"

"Zat task shall belong to Dulcy," Antoine said looking up at the dragon. 

"Don't worry everyone!" Dulcy said with a confident smile. "I'll look after every- hey, who are you?"

Her scaly long neck brought her face swooping down, stopping a few inches before Miles' own and allowing her to look at him inquisitively. He stared back at her, not really appreciating having an organic flamethrower invading his personal space.

"Well I'll be!" Dulcy chimed as recognition lit up in her eyes. "You're Tails, aren't you? Wow, it's so good to see you again!"

Images filled his mind of the last time he had seen the dragon, images of her walking away from him, thinking he was a murderer. He didn't like that at all, especially because he now _was_ a murderer, in a way. "Uh, yeah. Thanks," he said quickly before looking to Antoine. "Shouldn't we be going now?"

"Oui! Quite right meester Prower, it is time. We shall bring a great victory to Knothole today!"

"Good luck guys!" Dulcy said, wings flapping and lifting away from them with limited grace. 

"Very well, sir," Amy said, then looked to the two-tailed fox. "Come on Miles, we'd better get set."

He nodded and followed her away from the three Freedom Fighters down the street towards where the twelve green hover-cars were waiting, and where the soldiers were now embarking them via boarding ramps at the back.

"Lieutenant, eh?" he asked once they were out of hearing distance. 

"Yeah, that's my official Freedom Fighter rank. None of the leaders really use it, but in military operations we have to. For the troops."

"Ah."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a short while as they made their way down the dusty road. 

"Look, Amy," Miles said with a tired sigh, "about last night. I'm... sorry, I didn't mean to throw everything on you like that. I was just tired and..."

"No, no!" she replied softly. "Don't apologise for saying what you did, we all doubt ourselves sometimes... and I know these last two weeks has been tough for you."

He grimaced. They had, there was no denying it. But he knew that they had been tough for others too, and he was pretty certain that it was all mostly his fault. What he had told her last night... It was the truth. He was pretty certain that the machines had tracked him to Knothole because it was the only viable answer. It was just too much of a coincidence that he had been in the middle of every attack, _and_ that all of the attacks had occurred only recently. Usually he wouldn't listen to what the enemy had to say but, heck, even the Guyde had said that they had followed him. 

Still, it didn't really matter anymore, because before long he'd be leaving with a fat wallet or in a body bag, and either way, he'd be able to put this particular adventure behind him then. And with any luck, he'd get the chance to take out the Guyde before one of those happened.

"Yeah, but I'm still sorry. It's not like me to unload everything like that."

"In that case, I'm sorry for... well, you know..."

By the red tint to her cheeks, he knew exactly what she was referring to.

"Why?"

"You... You looked a bit shocked."

"No, I was just surprised. It's been a long time since I've had any... affection... like that."

This appeared to be the first time Amy realised that, and she looked at him sadly. 

"But it was nice, so... thanks, I guess," he said before she could reply. To be honest, the kiss had shocked him, and it had confused him. It had kept him awake for most of the night, too. But Amy didn't need to know that.

His face was expressionless as he watched her from the corner of his eyes, but he felt like he was smiling as the awkwardness between them dissolved. Amy seemed to pick up on it, and smiled in return.

"Come on," she said, walking up to one of the transports and entering via the back access ramp. He followed, finding himself in a small dark metal room with three seats running down either side. Five of the seats were occupied by Freedom Fighter troopers who saluted Amy simultaneously. She mirrored the gesture loosely. 

"Good morning guys!" she said. "Miles, I'd like to introduce you to squad Page."

The five troopers waved him a brief hello and he responded in kind. A glance towards Amy showed that she had sat down in a seat set facing away from them, forward of the compartment beneath a smooth glass canopy. All manner of read outs were arrayed around her as well as controls for, he guessed, making the hover-car move.

Near to the cockpit was one remaining empty seat which he dropped into heavily. Directly across from him was a badger who looked to be around Miles' own age, though far healthier.

"So! You're the fella who took out all o' those swatbots n' lived, eh?" the badger asked gruffly as the rear hatch closed with an electronic hum. 

"Maybe."

"Ah well me an' my squad I don't care much for mercenaries, but anyone who kills mechs n' bots like you is a friend o' mine. Name's Page, Sergeant Page."

"Prower," Miles replied leaning forward to shake his hand. "And don't you mean 'Mechanists'? There is a difference between them and mechs, you know."

"Nah mate, they're all the enemy now. Buildin' swatbots makes them just as bad as ol' Robotnik, and stealin' all our jobs is too much! It's 'bout time we went and kicked their asses!"

Miles suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and very self-conscious.

"What do you mean 'stealing jobs'? You've still got yours."

"There're takin' over everywhere! All their crappy goods are swampin' our markets and we can't compete with their speed and prices! They'll make all us normal people go bankrupt whilst they line their pockets!"

Miles decided then and there that he shouldn't talk to this guy unless he had no other alternative. He sounded like he was high on propaganda of the mech-racists... And by the looks on the faces of his squad members, they were all in agreement.

And it _was_ propaganda, he knew. Some mechs had set up states of their own a number of years ago and the first of three, Machina, was home for many mechs with mechanical arms. They were a ready-made mechanised force and rich anti-mechs were terrified that one day they'd become so great in number that the rest of Mobius wouldn't be able to keep up with them in terms of producing goods for export. Miles thought it to be an excuse for radicalism though because, after all, mechs _would_ one day die out. It wasn't like their children would have metal body parts as they were born or anything, but to many normal Mobians that didn't seem to matter. They would always respond that there were mech 'families' around, and that fact alone proved that they would grow like any other race. No one ever took the time to notice that the... 'families', were 'family' in name only. They were more like a small group trying to support each other in a harsh world.

The squad continued to talk amongst themselves along a similar line of conversation, so Miles refused to get involved in it. Instead, he did his best to cover his knuckles for his own state of mind whilst drowning himself in the whine from the engines as the hover-car began to move. It went slowly at first but increasingly quicker as they approached the gates of Knothole. Amy steered it into position behind another car as the one behind them followed suit, and soon they all formed a long convoy line. 

They cruised out of the town and into the Great Forest following a set path that safely avoided the surrounding trees. Miles occupied himself by looking out of the pilot's canopy and, after a few minutes, could make out a new and strange structure. It was set out in the middle of a clearing and looked like a large grave- a monument of some kind, built in grey stone and white marble with a large plaque on the front. But it wasn't the splendour of the thing that caught his attention, despite how much work had clearly gone into his construction; instead... it was that old fox in the blue cloak.

He was standing in front of it, staring straight at him.

Surprised, Miles jumped up and looked over Amy's shoulder whilst holding onto one of the support rails running down the length of the passenger compartment in an attempt to get a better look at the figure with the infuriating smile. But as soon as he moved, he was gone without a trace.

"Miles?" Amy questioned, glancing up at him. "What's wrong?"

He remained silent for a moment, then brought up a hand and pointed out of the canopy. 

"What's that?" he said sharply. Amy looked to where he was gesturing, then turned her attention back to following the vehicle in front.

"That's the monument dedicated to everyone who died fighting Robotnik. The army that was assembled to defeat him left for Robotropolis from there... and a lot of them didn't come back. Very few bodies were recovered, so Sally ordered it to be built in memory of them."

"It's a bit out of the way, isn't it?" he said, still watching the monument carefully as they passed.

"There was a big debate on where to put it. Some wanted it in the middle of the town, so that we wouldn't forget. But most found it more appropriate here. People still remember it and visit, but it's... kind of representative of us moving on."

Miles nodded as it disappeared out of sight, thoughts turning from what the thing was about to wondering exactly who that fox was. It was annoying him that he couldn't remember who it was. He had a good memory for faces, and he was certain that he had never seen the old fox before his return to Knothole.

  
There was the possibility that the fox was a figment of his imagination, of course, perhaps because of the stress of all that had happened recently. Alternatively his bionic eye could be playing up. He hadn't cleaned it for a while, so there was always the chance that it was malfunctioning.

Or, he could simply be going crazy. The only part of that idea that didn't make much sense was why he hadn't done so already.

But the fox looked so real! Miles could have _sworn_ that he was really there! It was like he was trying to tell him something... or, perhaps, trying to guide him...

"Attention all craft," Rotor's voice came over the radio, sounding sharp and tinny thanks to the electronics of the device. It snapped Miles from his confused thoughts, though the fox didn't know whether to be angry for that or thankful. "I'm uploading waypoint information and the location of the bunker to your navigation computers... now. Everyone head for waypoint-1."

A beep came from the machine around the car's controls, and the computer screen lit up with a physical map of the land north of Knothole. A purple line zigzagged upwards between numbered waypoints leading up to a circle placed directly over what looked like a river on the other side of the land known as the Green Hill Zone, rolling smooth hills north of the Great Forest that Knothole had claimed when it formed it's own nation. The mercenary looked at it for a while.

"That purple dot's the bunker, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, our destination," Amy replied whilst banking the craft slightly to be moving directly towards the first waypoint. The autopilot then switched on, immediately taking control by adjusting course every few seconds to avoid the trees.

"Well... That river, isn't it the Rhine?

She looked at the map for a moment and nodded.

"That's the border to Machina," Miles said quietly. 

Machina was a small nation, and was built on mostly infertile land with limited natural resources thanks to air currents that had brought clouds of pollution from Robotropolis down upon it. It had been left alone because of this- no state would have anything to do with it, but there were always people desperate for land where they could be safe. Like, for example, mechs.

Some states over the world were so extreme in their prejudice against the partially robotisized Mobians that eventually some founded a city on the desolate land that ran north-west of the Great Forest. A place free of racism and danger, a place that mechs could call home- the City of Machina. The skills that each mech had, be it strength, speed, or whatever, allowed them to build quickly and soon they were able to work on the land itself to make it fertile once more.

It was the first of it's kind, but it was not long before allies sprang up. Two more mech-controlled states sprung up nearby; Liberty and Tau. Liberty, as the name suggests, was a place where everyone would be equal and free. Tau, on the other hand was founded upon one of Robotnik's old bunkers marked Tau-27, and had very much become a nation dedicated to research and the ideals of bettering oneself.

Of course, most of this was rumour. What Miles knew was, anyway. He'd never really been to these places as another state, the People's Republic, was between where he had been in Chestnut and the closest mech state, Liberty. Going to Machina via Knothole on the other hand had been completely out of the question.

However, this was interesting. Word had it that Machina, the only mech state to touch the Kingdom of Knothole, had always done it's best to be the perfect neighbour to the royal family. He imagined Knothole being friendly in reply mainly due to the efforts of one ex-mech, Bunnie Rabbot. Building a bunker right on the border was not something he'd expect the fledging nation to do, never mind going on to capture the a good chunk of Knothole's population with swatbots and a Cyborg no less. 

It was no wonder that squad Page was so fired up with anti-mech propaganda... Propaganda against Machina.

Miles sat back down in his seat as the hover-car got underway on their journey. For the next few hours, not once did his mind drift from the idea that there was more going on here than meets the eye. 

----------

In a bunker underground north of Knothole, Snivley gave a thin smile as he finished the first stage of his experiment.

The wolf was perfect. He was young and still not fully-grown so he would be able to survive this little modification, growing to accept it in both body and mind. All he needed to do was install the hormonal restraint, then robotisize a select portion of the brain with the serum that his uncle had developed over ten years ago, and there he'd have it- his own Cyborg specifically designed for combat at last.

It was that serum what made the process possible really, as injecting a liquid that invoked robotisization allowed for a far more controlled and accurate transformation than the gas they had used for making worker drones. With it, key parts of the brain could be identified and changed so that the finished result had machine thought patterns with the awareness of a living creature. 

He couldn't do it yet, however. The wolf would have to be left for a few days to recover from having it's weapon implanted. Normally armament on a Cyborg would be left to the last step, but this was a new design whose head essentially _was_ the weapon, and as such that part had to be completed before the more sensitive parts of the brain were touched.

Of course, if this were a normal Cyborg, he'd be doing something very stupid right now. Head mounted blasters were usually wired into the mind to be fired by thought alone, but in this case he had countered the problem by fixing a trigger near the temple. The wolf wouldn't be able to fire without being able to reach it, so he could be left strapped down and thus remain harmless.

Besides, the boy wouldn't wake up for a good few hours at least. Snivley had plenty of time to make sure his... test model was secure before then.

Looking away from the operating table, he noticed the Guyde standing at the ready near the doorway. In the dim moody light that he preferred to live in it looked most sinister with it's multiple glowing red eyes. 

The thing had proven to be useful. Snivley had been more than a little sceptical at his lord's design for a machine that could not only track but also control that one particular Cyborg... The first Spyder. He hadn't been able to understand the point- far superior models could be (and had been) constructed yet his lord insisted that the partially mechanical fox remained under their control. There was something 'special' about him was his lord's reasoning, but what that special thing was, Snivley did not know. 

The Guyde had been a difficult thing to construct, mainly because of it's basic requirements. It had to have a similar biological brain pattern to the incomplete Spyder for starters, so the first task was to find an appropriate host... and that could only be a family member of the same sex. A brother, a father, or a son. Nothing else would do.

Information on the fox had been extracted from the nearly destroyed Robotropolis computer archives, and all undamaged worker bots the Freedom Fighters had left behind were taken away too. They had been checked to see if there was any match between names and species- and they got lucky. An adult robotisized fox, marked 'A. Prower' was just the result they needed.

It had been a simple step to de-robotisize him and then transform his body to that of the Guyde. 

There was the question now, however, of what he should _do_ with it. Records showed the Spyder to be dead, so it had fulfilled it's purpose. It wasn't all that well prepared for close combat, having no major offensive capabilities other than strength and stealth... and almost every Cyborg model had those traits as standard anyway.

Snivley stroked his chin in thought, thoughts turning away from the silent biomechanical machine to anger at how he couldn't actually _feel_ his chin. 

The huge assault on Robotropolis ten years ago had been costly. He and his uncle had been in a bad way afterwards, having narrowly avoided the worst of the high charged explosives that had been set around the control room. He had still been crippled though, and it was only thanks to the Recovery Program, prepared not five days before, that he had survived.

He had lived, but the price was high. Most of his body was now robotisized. 

Robotnik had been in a worse state, but the Recovery Program had stabilised him... Snivley had to do the rest, bound not by loyalty but by the fact that the man was, apparently, family. 

Snivley was never one not to take advantage of circumstances, though. After all, the Golden Throne was immobile. Not because it _had_ to be, but because he _wanted_ it to be.

Suddenly, an alarm went off.

Surprised, Snivley dashed to his control room with clumsy, heavy steps. The main computer was turned on – it was never off – and displayed a map of the area around his base.

"Warning, incoming craft on an intercept course," the machine said crisply. Snivley's eyes widened, then closed as his expression turned to what could be likened to a sly cat. Thirteen Freedom Fighter transports he counted, represented by red dots closing fast to the southeast.

No problem for his mech forces. He disliked the Mechanist religious fanatics being inside his home, but they were too useful to get rid of just yet. Plus, they were required for the Plan. Propaganda could only go so far; there had to be action too, and they were perfect for it. All his lord had to do was make it seem like he was a 'Profit' for their religion, and they had flocked to his service like sheep.

Now... Now it was time to take them to the slaughter.

Activating the base loudspeakers, Snivley issued his orders with a grin.

-----------

The first sound of battle was the deep thud of mortars.

Had that not brought the Freedom Fighters to the peak of awareness, the following explosions certainly would have as the hover-car transports swooped between the flying shrapnel and mud that tore up the pristine green landscape of the Green Hill Zone around the river Rhine. They were close to the bunker now; it was built just a few hundred meters down river, and they were closing fast. Amy didn't need her HUD to see the grey metal doors built into the side of a particularly large hill, nor to see defensive trench before it that was well manned with Mechanists wielding all manner of weapons; including one aiming what appeared to be an anti-tank rocket launcher at her.

Hover-cars were not specifically military vehicles, but for the moment were the best vehicle they had for a fast assault like this. Unfortunately, like the one she, Bunnie and Cream had used to get to Chestnut, a good solid blaster shot could take it down, never mind a rocket. Even a glancing hit with one would turn them into a blazing inferno.

So, at about fifty metres from the enemy trench, Amy slammed on the brake jets, released the boarding ramp, and gave her first order of the mission.

"Incoming! Everyone out! Now!"

Her canopy flipped open and she jumped onto the hull of the craft, dropping down to the ground around the side. Amidst the pings of incoming fire and sprays of dirt, she dashed behind the ship and dived for the cover of a nearby mortar crater, Miles and the five members of squad Page close behind.

"Well," Miles shouted over the din of enemy fire, "I think it's safe to say that we're off to a _great_ start, doncha think?"

She ignored him, drew her blaster pistol and rose up over the lip of the crater. She managed to get off a few shots in the general direction of the enemy, maybe hitting one before being forced back down again.

"Did anyone see what happened to the other 'cars?" she yelled.

"'Saw two go down ma'am, jus' after us!" Page replied, jumping up to fire a few bolts before dropping back again. 

She swore under her breath. This wasn't supposed to happen- the swatbots recordings showed barely any Mechanists in the base, so where did all of these guys come from? 

"Rotor! You seeing this?" she said, flicking on her arm radio.

"Amy, there- wait... All transports are down, I repeat, all transports have been destroyed!"

She flinched as a mortar bomb went of nearby, raining them with dirt. 

"Well? What do we do?"

"You've fallen into a rough line... looks like most of the troops are okay, musta' got clear before their 'cars got taken out."

_'Thanks for stating the obvious,'_ she thought darkly. It was okay for him and Antoine, staying back from the battleground in a single command transport outfitted with all manner of tactical displays and communication devices. Sure they knew what battle was like on the front line, but when taken back they seemed to lose the sense of emergency which she was certainly feeling. After all, Walkers knew how many Mechanists less than fifty meters away were trying to kill her. _They_ didn't have that problem.

"Amy, stay where you are, we're looking for a weakness in their line. Keep firing!" Rotor said suddenly.

"Everyone fire at will!" she shouted, then leapt up and snapped off a few rounds of her own. Squad Page followed suit, but Miles... didn't.

"Miles! MILES!" Amy yelled, he not responding the first time. Instead, he was looking off to the flank of the battle line, towards the river Rhine.

"What?" he replied, finally looking at her.

"Just- Shoot them!" she said, gesturing towards the Mechanists.

But he didn't.

"Listen, I've got an idea!"

"We don't have time for mad plans-"

"Amy, trust me! Just charge when I give the word, alright?"

The mercenary didn't bother to wait for an answer. Amy could only watch in disbelief as he dove out from the limited cover of the crater into the very teeth of the enemy guns, running as fast as he could directly towards the river.

The hedgehog couldn't seem to take her eyes of him as he went, ducking and weaving between the puffs of grass and mud. At any moment she expected a bullet to strike him, smashing his skull or ripping into an arm and turning the fox into little more than a corpse. Page and his men were watching too, utterly dumfounded that someone would be willing to do something so stupid.

It was insane.

It was suicide.

...it was something that Sonic would do.

So this, she supposed, was how Sally felt.

----------

Miles didn't know what had possessed him.

Maybe it was the noise of it all. Normally, battle was loud but because of his sensitive hearing, it was the entire opposing force was shooting directly into his ears... yes, that was as good excuse as any. The noise had driven him mad, that had to be it.

It was a desperate gambit, but if it worked then this little skirmish would end far quicker than if both sides to remain taking odd shots at each other and loss of life on the Freedom Fighter side would be kept to a minimum. And all it required was to get to the Rhine... which was easier said than done, he thought, turning to avoid a line of bullets tearing up the beautiful green grass. 

So far, about half of his success was thanks to the artificial Cyborg reflexes that had allowed him to prevent Shadow from killing princess Sally. Everything was flowing at normal pace, but whenever he picked up on a threat approaching either from seeing it, hearing it, even _feeling_ it (were it to generate a great deal of air movement) then it would appear to him that the world had slowed to a snails pace. He'd know it was approaching, be able to judge when it would strike, and have all the time in the world to react to it.

And yet, in reality, nothing slowed at all. Instead, he sped up.

That was just half of the reason why he was still alive though. The rest, he knew, was simple dumb luck, the thing that had kept him alive for a good portion of his life.

He'd be dead without it.

Then with a surprising abruptness, the ground gave out beneath him to yield the crystal blue waters of the Rhine. Miles inwardly grinned in triumph as he fell into the river- he'd made it.

The mercenary allowed a few moments to orientate himself, twisting his tails together as he did so. Once he was facing downstream, he flicked them out, resulting in a propeller like action that allows him to cruise through the water, as though he were flying.

The feeling of floating brought pleasant memories to mind; memories of when he would fly everywhere by using his two tails. He had felt so free back then... Flying had been the prefect release. Very few people in Knothole had been able to fly, and out of all of them he was both the youngest and the best. That had been a point of pride for Miles for many years.

He didn't fly so often now. Very rarely, actually, mainly for two reasons- first, a flying fox attracted way too much attention. Not only was he essentially a mech, but a mutant too... and he hadn't been keen on letting all of Chestnut know that. Second was that it was quite a strain to do it now, and not because he had grown. That wasn't a problem- his tails _had_ grown bigger with the rest of him after all. The trouble was that the metal that had been put into his wiry frame made him far heavier than he should be, and despite his enhanced muscles it was difficult to get his tails to spin fast enough to keep him off the ground for any great length of time.

When he had first found it difficult to fly, he'd been distraught. It was like he'd had his one talent torn from him, and been chained down to the floor by that most powerful force- gravity. It had been quite claustrophobic for a while.

But, he'd grown to accept it. Just like everything else.

Swimming out wide of his target, Miles looked up through the surface of the water for any sign of the Mechanist line. It wasn't long before he caught a glimpse of two half flesh, half machine creatures firing off a large black weapon mounted on a tripod behind the cover of torn up ground.

He turned towards them, gradually diving as he cut across the river with increasing speed. When he was just a few meters away from colliding with the bank, the fox suddenly twisted upwards, throwing everything he had into spinning his tails.

The machine gun team never knew what hit them as the Spyder exploded up from the river with the force of a missile.

The first mech was dispatched as Miles somersaulted into a crouch on his shoulders and thrust all six claws down though his head. The mercenary kicked off and away as the body fell like a sack of potatoes, landing on the second with his thighs clamped around the target's neck. With a flash the Mechanist's throat was cut, and, as Miles used his momentum to somersault once more, he was thrown into three of his comrades down in the trench, surprising them and sending all but one of their weapons flying.

The one who still held his rifle tight with metal hands franticly brought the weapon to aim on the new threat as he landed in a crouch before him. But before he could get a shot, Miles made a sweep-like kick, knocking the gun away and following through with an explosive jump-kick that sent the mech down into the mud and the mercenary soaring over him. The other two had by now recovered and charged on either side as Miles span between them, both receiving three blades to the face for their trouble.

Dazed, the grounded mech staggered to his feet and looked up to meet the eyes of his attacker. Miles stared back impassively, knowing what had to be done for the sake of the Freedom Fighters.

Five seconds later, the mercenary continued on his bloody way down the Mechanist trench with one more corpse left in his wake.

----------

Watching the battle unfold on the monitor before him, Snivley was steadily becoming angrier.

The mechs were failing- their solid defence was being picked apart on the right flank... and in an awfully continuous pattern- one at a time in one direction. Not the random hits from gunfire, no, this was too precise. Something was running down the line and killing his followers one by one.

Well, he wasn't about to let one Mobian get the better of him!

With a snarl and a curse at his rotten luck and moronic army, he activated the radio and gave new orders to his squad leaders.

"All units! There is a heretic coming down the right flank, forget the Freedom Fighters and stop it immediately!"

----------

Amy popped up once more and snapped of a few quick shots. She was getting desperate: Miles had disappeared, Rotor and Antoine couldn't find a weakness, and the entire assault force was pinned down. Page and his men were still with her and none had been killed or injured yet, but she could tell that they were getting just as frustrated as she. The rest of the force probably was, too.

She was beginning to consider throwing caution to the wind and committing to a charge now. That would at least get things over with, but all ideas of that sort were forgotten when, suddenly, the Mechanists stopped firing.

For a long moment she stayed down in cover expecting a trap but, soon, ever so slowly, she looked up over the lip of the crater to see silver hints of the mechs making their way to one side of their line.

"What the-?" she whispered.

----------

Miles was getting lucky again.

Had this trench system been built following a more basic design and turned out to be mostly a straight line, then he'd probably be dead by now. But, thankfully, the Mechanists had built it in the twisting angular pattern that was used to cut down the number of troops who could be killed by a single grenade- the same pattern that cut off line of sight and thus made him invisible to whoever was around the corner.

As for sound, well, that was taken care of by the guns. They drowned out the occasional screams of the mechs that either saw him before the first blow, or survived to meet the second perfectly.

He couldn't ask for more, to be honest. Thirteen kills already. At this rate, he'd destroy the enemy army on his own!

So taken was he of getting around the corner to take on the next squad what he didn't realise the mechs had stopped firing. When he was around the corner however he did realise, grinding to a halt in front of a group of perhaps seven Mechanists... all of whom were ready and waiting for him.

Faced with seven guns all trained on his forehead, Miles did what any self-respecting mercenary from Chestnut would do.

He swore.

"Shit!"

Enhanced muscles propelled him back around the corner just as puffs of mud burst from where he had been standing not one second before. He ran from the Mechanists' fanatical cries, pausing only to reach down and snap off a grenade from a corpse's belt- it would be useful in a moment.

It was then that Miles realised that the sound of gunfire had ceased. His plan had worked, though perhaps too well- they had noticed that he had taken a lot of their number and, true to form, they were now intent on 'delivering retribution'. He'd expected maybe one or two squads to give chase, giving a small opening for the assault group to take advantage of... but by the sounds of cries being echoed down the trench, practically the entire army was after his blood.

He followed the trench down the way he had come, doing all he could to avoid the sporadic enemy fire from behind. A glance back showed his pursuers were losing ground, but not fast enough- if he wasn't quick, then he'd run back into the river... at which point, he'd most certainly receive a bullet to the head. He needed a distraction... hence, the grenade. 

As he turned a sharp right along the trench, he pulled the pin and dropped the green orb into the corner. A sharp left followed, exactly as expected, the perfect cover to shield him from the blast.

Once round he heard the weapon go off along with the accompanying screams of those unfortunate enough to be within the blast radius. That should hold them up for a few seconds- and that was all he needed.

Miles activated the arm radio of the Freedom Fighter uniform and yelled,

"Amy! Charge, now!"

----------

Snivley couldn't believe this was happening.

The Freedom Fighters, just a few moments ago pinned down by his troops, were now fearlessly running across no-mans-land and towards the trench. His fanatical soldiers on the other hand, under orders to kill the figure that had somehow managed to flank them, were completely oblivious to the approaching threat.

And no amount of screaming at the mech sergeants seemed to be getting their attention.

That was the trouble with fanatics, they were so difficult to control. Swatbots may not be smart, but at least when he told them to do something they went and did it without question- the main reason why he preferred them over the half-mechanical Mobians. 

It looked like he was going to have to use them, too. Most of his Mechanists had been placed outside, and relatively few remained inside the base. But he did have divisions of swatbots- and they would have to do.

Abandoning the mechs outside to their fate, Snivley hit the inter-base communication link.

"All hands to battle stations!" he said, "Swatbots to take up defensive positions along sector-B5. Prepare to receive hostiles."

It wouldn't take them long to get inside, but they wouldn't get far. He had plenty of surprises in store; automatic guns, trap doors, mines, everything that he could think of was built into the corridors of his base. They would make the perfect backup, positioned around the sector-B inner ring of the base whilst the sector-C outer ring was occupied by his remaining troops. 

Yes, he thought as he watched the Freedom Fighters annihilate the remaining Mechanists. That would work well-

Wait, was that...?

Frowning, he watched the Freedom Fighters regroup in front of the main doors of the bunker. It wasn't long before his suspicions were confirmed- there, moving towards the pink hedgehog who appeared to be in charge, was a fox. A very familiar fox.

So, the Spyder was alive...

Thinking that this could be a highly useful occurrence, Snivley pressed a button on his control panel, summoning the Guyde to action. Against the combined might of the Freedom Fighters, he knew it wouldn't be as capable as other models- so, he chose a special attack pattern. 'Gamma-349', the command to use a particular form of cover.

The air vents.

----------

Miles hated air vents.

They were dark, dirty, smelly and claustrophobic. Three things he disliked, topped off by the fact that when he get out (assuming he didn't get stuck), he'd have to deal with the annoyance of having spots of muck and grime clogging his fur, a most uncomfortable sensation for anyone.

This was Amy's idea. Normally he'd have disagreed, but there was a very, _very_ good reason behind it.

Sure his actions outside had granted the Freedom Fighters access to the bunker, but in the process they had displayed quite clearly that he was a mech.

And the troops were here to kill mechs.

Gathering outside the door as a squad set explosives on the main doors, the entire assault force had been watching him with suspicion. He couldn't blame them to be honest- who wouldn't be wary of a two-tailed fox covered with splatters of mud and gore, with six, foot-long, blades sticking out of his arms?

It was Amy's decision that he ought to stay separate from the main force, just in case any of the soldiers got a bit trigger-happy... and, judging by the way numerous blaster rifles had been generally trained on him, that was quite likely.

He'd spotted another way in, or what he at least hoped to be another way in; an air duct cover protruding from a short metal wall a distance down the trench. The grating that covered it was welded down, but that was no problem for his claws.

So here he was, pushing his way through a stuffy square tube doing what he did so well- assassination.

Amy had told him to look for the commander and eliminate him. She may have meant to merely disable him, but he wasn't in the mood for something so half-hearted. 

No, he'd gut the bastard. And he felt well justified to do so.

Meanwhile, Amy would take the soldiers on through the main entrance to eliminate any remaining resistance. He didn't for a moment that would succeed. She didn't need him to stick around her for anything so... 'masculine' as to act as a bodyguard. She was quite capable of taking care of herself. After all, she was a Freedom Fighter Lieutenant.

And go caught up in thoughts as he was, Miles didn't notice how his emotional levels were quickly heading back to what they used to be. He hadn't noticed a shadowy figure enter the air vent after him and sneak into the base corridors with startling speed, either.

----------

Snivley had always thought himself to be calm, to be cool under pressure, unlike his uncle. Back in Robotropolis he had yearned to be in control, knowing that he could to a better job, knowing that he wouldn't get angry and start pounding on computer consoles as the Freedom Fighters made their attacks.

Being in the hot seat, however, changed that.

"Dammit!" he seethed, slamming his metal fist down on the main control console. This was not going well- the cameras positioned along the corridors of his base allowed him to witness the Freedom Fighters take up excellent firing positions as they progressed. This let them cover each other perfectly as they made their way deeper into his lair, and despite the swatbots ability to hold them up and take out one occasionally, nothing seemed to stop them.

Despite his rage, Snivley knew the value of having a good escape plan. It was because of one which he pioneered that he was alive today, and naturally he had been certain to install one here. He was getting the feeling that he'd have to use it soon.

The emergency escape route was simple; a lift built into one corner of his control room that would take him up to the surface and into a personal hover transport. From there, he could go anywhere, safely placed a good distance from whatever danger had forced him to use it. He was confident that it would take him far out of Freedom Fighter reaches, bit the question was once he was away was, _where_ would he go?

If he returned to his lord's base, no doubt he'd be killed for this particular loss. It would be better to meet up with some of the agents in the Chestnut State or the People's Republic- safety would be far easier to attain.

Yes, that was where he would go.

Snivley hit the switch on his control board that activated his escape route. It was best that he go now- delay too long, and they would catch him. Even if the Freedom Fighters were to merely see him, then they would know too much- the Plan would be in ruins. So, he made to strand.

And he would have stood too, were he able to.

The small human frowned as he tried to will the metal limbs into action once more, but again they would not respond. Come to think of it... None of his lower body would respond. 

He looked down in alarm, and was met with the sight of a single blade protruding from his stomach, a blade that had impaled him from behind through his chair so smoothly he hadn't even felt it sever his spinal cord.

It slid out with a hiss, and he blinked in surprise. He would have thought that being stabbed would hurt a great deal, but of course his robotic body protected him from experiencing such trivialities.

It was terrifying to witness, nonetheless.

The blade flashed again, and Snivley knew no more.

----------

Standing behind the corpse of the man that had helped build it, the Snyper proceeded to execute the next stage of it's mission plan.

The human had died quickly from a slash that had separated his body into two, tearing through his chest from one side to the other. Normally, he would have cut the target's throat but that would have been too bloody; the body was robotisized whilst the neck was not, and mission parameters forbid him from leaving any trace.

Next stage: wiping the computer banks. An easy task, and completed in moments by plugging into the main computer with his palm-link. Everything was removed- communication and surveillance recordings, the history of activities, the very short staff list, everything, right down to the current orders for swatbots and automatic base defences.

That done, Shadow grabbed the two parts of his former commander and dragged them over to the escape lift. The Freedom Fighters would be here soon, and it could not waste any time and allow them to see the human's remains.

It made it, activated the elevator, and the doors sealed. The lift pulled away, the humming loud inside the control room for a few moments but gradually fading.

It was silent again by the time Miles Prower jumped out from one of the air vents, oblivious to the recent departure of his one-time friend.

----------

Another square metal grey room. Miles had dropped into many so far whilst avoiding the occasional blaster fire emanating from the corridors and most had been sleeping quarters, barracks for the Mechanists with plain beds and lockers arranged into neat continuous rows.

A few had been different; an armoury, a computer station and a shrine to the Machine God, but none had any Mechanists or swatbots within. He guessed they had all been scrambled for combat and now most were dead at the hands of the Freedom Fighters.

This room was like all the others in general layout- square, cool, very much like the ones in Robotropolis. It was as if it had the same architect.

Now, _that_ was a strange thought. Robotnik, hire an architect?

One thing was quite unique about this room, however. One of the walls was dominated by a really, really big computer... with a command chair in front of it that appeared to have been turned violently into a stool with a rather sharp blade.

Damn, if anyone had been sitting in that at the time, then that would _really_ have hurt.

Then he noticed in the corner, a set of silver double-doors, doors that looked like they would open to a lift of some kind. The mercenary walked over and placed his ear up to it- and there, he heard it, the sounds of an elevator operating.

Well, that settled it. This must be the control room, and the bastard had taken an escape route out.

He would have followed somehow by prying open the doors and climbing up after the target, but by the faintness of the sound he was a good distance away by now. He wouldn't catch him, whoever he was.

So, instead, he decided to make his way back to the Freedom Fighters and report these findings to Amy. And he might be able to take out some more swatbots in the process, too.

With a grunt, Miles walked over to the only other door in the control room and followed a short corridor leading down to another room- a room that was darker than the others, and had a single table in the centre with various cabinets and machinery positioned around the walls.

Miles stopped short. This was all _very_ familiar.

He'd seen this layout for a room physically half a dozen times. That number was multiplied by thousands when his nightmares were taken into account.

This was a Cyborg creation room.

And there was a subject strapped to the table.

Miles dashed forward to the figure, squinting in the darkness to make out who it was and what modifications were there yet, if any. And he recognised the face, even though a thin red visor-like contraption with a black metal casing that ran from temple to temple covered the eyes.

It was the kid from the palace cafeteria. The wolf, what was his name... Tom?

Yeah, Thomas. That was it, the boy who had the mouse girlfriend. The one who he had told not to become like him.

Well, shit.

He looked over the rest of the kid's body, looking for any kind of standard Cyborg feature that may have been added. But there were none. The eye contraption on his face, firmly grafted into the skin and probably bone beneath, appeared to be the only modification. It was a strange device, definitely something that Miles had never seen before. He wondered briefly what it was for, but those thoughts were soon overtaken by the realisation that when he woke from whatever anaesthetics were no doubt flowing in his bloodstream, he was going to freak out.

Badly.

Hell, Miles certainly had when his modifications appeared. Granted he had been younger than Tom, but that wouldn't matter a whole lot.

He stood and looked at the kid silently for a long time, not really knowing what to do until a plethora of voices would be made out coming from a room nearby.

He recognised them as from the Freedom Fighter leaders. So they had been found safe and well- that was one good thing, he supposed.

Reluctantly, he made his way to tell Amy the bad news.

"Well," Miles said sombrely as he walked into a long room, an observation area of some kind it appeared as a window ran along one of the walls looking down into a deep canyon of metal. The far wall of that canyon was made of what looked like prison cells, some occupied, some not. 

The Freedom Fighters, apparently victorious stood together in the middle of the room engaged in a heated debate over something or other. His arrival caught the attention of all, and he made a heroic effort to remain emotionless at the sight of Sonic, Sally and Bunnie, alive and well, standing with Amy and the assault troops. "The commander escaped before I could get to him. And he's been busy- one of the kids from the orphanage, Tom I think, has been changed by this little experience and not for the better."

He stopped, for the first time realising that Sonic was looking with barely contained anger... not to mention that the soldiers were all pointing their blasters at him.

"Hey, hey!" he said, raising his hands above his head. "Look- it's me! I'm on your side, remember?"

"You, _traitor!_" Sonic snarled. Miles blinked, confused.

"Wha? Hey, that wasn't my fault, I didn't _mean_ to bring them to-"

"So you admit it!"

"The hell? No!"

He looked to Sally for help in controlling the hedgehog, but she seemed unable to meet his eyes. She certainly didn't do anything to stop Sonic when he began to stride towards him, but thankfully Amy and Bunnie did, both moving to intercept before he'd be able to strike.

They couldn't be everywhere at once, though.

"Don't deny it, Mechanist!" one of the troopers shouted. "I saw you killin' my buddies!"

What in the name of the Walkers were they talking about?!

"It was yo' fault that we got attacked in the first place, wasn't it!" came another, Page if he wasn't mistaken. It was probably Page who shot first, too.

Thankfully for Miles it was a poor shot (or not, as he would think later) and went wide, giving him just a fraction of a second to dive to the floor before the rest of the troopers opened up. Their blasts passed over him and struck the observation window; blaster proof as it was, it was only designed to take a few shots... and the sheer power of the combined bolts was more than it could handle. It exploded into thousands of small, sharp shards.

Stunned for a moment, ears ringing with the sound of breaking glass and the screams of Amy, Sally and Bunnie to stop firing, he looked around desperately for a way out- and as luck would have it, one was easy enough to spot.

The drop didn't even register until he had leapt over the destroyed window balcony, but when he did immediately his mind went into action on figuring out a way to break his fall. As he neared the ground he attempted to spin his tails to at least slow down, and slow down he did- but he didn't stop. 

Contact with the metal floor was quite painful at the speed he was travelling. Not fatal for someone of his resilience, though.

Miles staggered to his feet, running for the door to sector-A as fast as he could manage. He made it just as bolts of energy from the enraged Freedom Fighters danced around his feet, some coming close enough to singe his fur.

Madness. That's what this was, madness. The Freedom Fighters were trying to kill him. Sonic was trying to kill him. And he had no idea why.

Had they been planning this from the start? Was this an alternative to paying him? Or did they still believe he was guilty of killing Ari and had merely used him, knowing that this attack would come? 

He didn't want to think about it. That was just as well really, because he wouldn't have been able to make sense of it if he tried. The only thing that was in control now was instinct, and the will to survive.

He reached the corridor marked with 'sector-C' without incident, though it was then that fate apparently decided he'd had enough luck for the day as a spinning blue, black and grey ball shot around the corner and slammed into his back.

Miles cried out in pain, stumbling forwards and landing face down on the cold metal floor.

He was certain he could feel something in his left eye.

The air behind him moved fast and harshly, a sure fire alert that something – a probably dangerous something – was approaching him. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a gauntlet-armoured fist. 

He knew who had attacked him. Sonic. Who else could it be? How many more blue figures could run as fast as sound and manage to knock him down so easily?

"I, I didn't mean to betray you," he tried, standing and skipping a few steps away from his idol. "I didn't know."

"Liar! You showed the swatbots where Knothole is! You nearly got Sal killed!"

The hedgehog then threw a punch which Miles didn't even attempt to avoid. The fist hit him squarely between the eyes, letting out a steely clang as it impacted with his metal skill. 

"I took you in, I _raised_ you, even when everyone else called you a freak! They all said you were some experiment gone wrong, but I ignored them all because I felt sorry for you! And _this_ is how you repay me?! How you repay us?!"

Oh... Oh, that cut deep. Just about anyone else could have said that to him and he'd have ignored it, but Sonic... He saying such things was not something he could handle all that well.

Even in this kind of situation. 

His right eye teared up from both physical and emotional pain for the first time in years. His left would have too, were it able to.

Sonic jumped forward and tackled him to the ground. Miles hissed as the bits of glass caught in his fur were pushed into his skin.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that he really was falling apart, not in the sense as he did the night before but with a blindingly powerful feeling of hopelessness. An awfully familiar feeling.

That... that Cyborg was here.

Miles looked over Sonic's shoulder, blocking out the occasional punches from the hedgehog as best he could. And yes, there it was. Just like he expected.

The Guyde was walking towards them slowly, shadows produced by broken lights flowing over it's organic and metal body like oil. All of it's multiple red eyes were watching him with distain.

Miles just couldn't look away from it. 

He couldn't hear what Sonic was saying anymore, nor could really feel his attacks. All he could do was watch the thing that, somehow, was controlling him.

It stopped...

And then did the one thing that by all rights it shouldn't be able to do.

It grinned.

Something snapped within Miles. The sight of this monster that had forced him down a path he didn't want to follow, that had tricked him into hating and betraying the people who had raised him, that had helped turn his life into the web of lies that it was starting to be, leering at him in triumph pushed him over the edge.

He didn't really know what he did next. None of it was intentional. It just... happened, like a dream, or nightmare. He saw red, roared, felt his arms and legs move- Sonic was flung away as though he hadn't been there at all, smashing into a bulkhead further down the gentle curve of the corridor like a rag doll, and before he knew it Miles was on his feet and charging at the Guyde.

A pulse ran down his right arm, signalling to his mind that the three deadly blades housed there were out and ready for action. As sharp and elegant as a set of razor blades they were, cutting through the air swiftly and cleanly with a whistle, cutting up point-first into the underside of the Guyde's furry muzzle, through the bones of the jaw effortlessly, on through the hollow of the mouth, into the back of the upper jaw and through nerve stems behind the eyes, into the brain and, finally, out the top of the skull with a gout of blood.

He stood there for a moment with his fist right up to the Cyborg's chin, blinking stupidly. The glow left it's eyes and it became heavier, legs failing as it gave in to death and yet Miles still did not move, letting it hang there like some gruesome puppet.

The blades slid down and back into his arm. The body fell with a heavy thud.

Miles looked at his fist, covered with the Guyde's blood. His mind went absolutely blank as he stared.

There was something wet on his right cheek.

His left hand game up and touched the fur there. It was wet, but pulling away showed that it was not red. It wasn't blood.

Was... was he crying?

Sonic was watching him from his position on the floor, bruised and dazed but otherwise no worse for wear. Miles took a few uncertain steps towards him.

"I... I didn't mean to betray you... but, but still... I'm sorry for everything," Miles croaked. "Look after Tom, he'll need you now. I _know_ he will..."

And then he ran on down the corridor to the exit without once looking back, surprised, confused, and even scared.

Isn't it funny, how history has a habit of repeating itself?

**Note:** Confused? Don't be. There _is_ a reason for some of the Freedom Fighters turning on Miles, and all shall be explained in good time. Now, your comments, please! :-)


	10. A Lonely Road

Well, it's been a while, eh? 

First, I must apologise for making you all wait for so long! I've been finding it really difficult to get back into the mood for writing now that I have left school, but I think that I've managed to get things going once more. This chapter may seem a bit short, and if so I apologise for that too- but this version of the story won't be the final version anyway, so fear not! Once the main storyline is complete I will be reviewing the whole thing to add bits, take bits, rewrite bits... You get the idea.

But the point is I really needed to get something done so that the fic is in motion once more. I'm sure you can understand that.

Anywho, enjoy the chapter! I wonder, will anyone find part of it freaky... Asher Tye might. After all, he guessed something like this was in store a while back. ;-)

And don't worry. I won't take so long over getting the next one ready.

**Chapter 10: A Lonely Road**

Inside Knothole Palace, a special room had been set aside near to the throne room dedicated to diplomatic activity. Whilst Knothole was a monarchy (at least it would be once Sally married Sonic and he became king), Sally held a particular distaste to any semblance of dictatorship. If she were to take the position of her father as a total monarch, then it would have been somewhat hypocritical to have criticised Robotnik for having done the same.

Not that a dictatorship was always going to be a bad thing- she could have turned out to be an enlightened despot for example, but the war had left too bitter a taste in her mouth regarding the whole issue. She preferred to steer clear of it altogether.

To reflect this, the throne room was mostly for show. The real important work of running the Kingdom of Knothole was handled in this nearby special room- a council room dominated by a large oval table at which currently sat Princess Sally at the head with Sonic at her side. The four leaders that the two favoured sat around the table, each holding some kind of rank; Lieutenant Rotor Walrus, Lieutenant Amy Rose, Captain Antoine D'Coolette, and General Bunnie Rabbot.

Raid knew all of this and all of them, naturally. He knew their strengths, he knew their weaknesses. He knew all he needed to know to be able to manipulate them to do whatever his master wanted of them. Within reason.

It was all quite amusing, really.

There was something bothering the six of them, he could tell. Their looks and body language spoke volumes; Sonic's firm posture and straight back was all Raid needed to see to be able to tell that he was questioning his actions against the Spyder a number of days ago. And he was quite right to do so, as throughout his time with the Freedom Fighters, Miles Prower hadn't willingly betrayed them.

Raid knew all about the attack, too. Shadow had appeared with a report, plus a video recording of his actions inside the base. All else that had transpired was recorded courtesy of stealthbots sent by his lord. Sonic had been so caught up with his pursuit of Prower that he hadn't noticed the machine watching from the ceiling. Once the Guyde had made itself known and been promptly destroyed, the machine had followed Prower out of the building to see where he was running to- directly west to Machina was the destination. A fair enough option given his choice; it was either that, or Knothole.

This was Raid's first visit to Knothole after the war against Robotnik, and even back then he hadn't been here for long. He had just been a Lieutenant and only in the town to take command of a small detachment of Freedom Fighters. It was his group that had placed a number of the explosives that had levelled the city, but not without a cost- leading his men from the front had resulted in his capture, rapid transportation to a backup bunker, and then… transformation.

It had been a cost at the time. Now, it was a blessing.

This particular trip to the seat of Knothole power was in response to the meeting just over two weeks ago where he had embarked on talks with two representatives. The New Mobian Republic, the whole point of the talks, was an idea brewed by Princess Sally with aim to reunite Mobius, in the hope of generating some form of strong government to rule the people. It would go a long way to solidifying stability and eliminating oppression, giving support to states with problems, and bring equality to all. It was a fair and just plan, and Raid could see the logic in it. Sally would do all she could to see it through as well because, after all, she liked to be a Princess of the People.

The idea was, however, completely useless. Or at least it would be soon, when his master ascended to his rightful place. He would ensure a strong government without the need for negotiating treaties, discussions over who would be in charge of what land, arguments who got more attention over certain issues... All of that would be wiped away.

But not quite yet.

He had another task under direct orders form his master. To... finalise issues regarding the Spyder.

To make him a true enemy to the people of Knothole.

"And as I am quite certain was mentioned at the meeting in Chestnut with General Rabbot and Lieutenant Rose, David," Princess Acorn said, lacking the usual fluidic grace with which she often spoke in meetings this important, "the Mobian Republic would be run by a senate positioned here in Knothole. Each state who joined would be able to elect three representatives who would be a part of the senate and would deal with issues regarding their state."

She was distracted. Apparently, Prower meant more to her than he had realised.

Time to go to work, then.

"That is perfectly acceptable, Princess Acorn," he replied. "It is certainly no trouble for us to travel up to Knothole, assuming the transportation link is completed on schedule."

"Yes, it should be. I have had no reports of any problems so I can only assume that the tunnelling is going well..."

Sally trailed off, looking as though she had a headache coming on. Raid took his chance.

"Are you feeling okay, your highness? You look a little preoccupied."

Sally gave him a small smile.

"Oh I'm fine Raid, it's just..." She glanced at Sonic briefly, and Raid took the opportunity to look at the other members of the Knothole leadership. D'Coolette and Walrus were braced as though they were expecting an argument, whilst Rabbot and Rose were glaring at Sonic as though they wanted to tear his head off.

The mayor of Chestnut fought back a grin. This was almost too easy.

"We lost a friend a few days ago," Rose snapped, still glaring at Sonic.

"I am sorry to hear that," Raid said looking to her with a good impression of sympathy. "Was it during your assault on the terrorists near Machina?"

Rose's eyes flicked towards him, and there was a brief moment of silence.

"How do you know about that?" she said.

"My dear," Raid replied smoothly so as remove the suspicious taint from her eyes, "who _doesn't_ know about it? A number of states have already contacted me about their concern over Knothole flexing its military muscle. We are the closest nation to you, after all."

"What about Machina?" Rose asked. "It happened much closer to them."

"They wanted to know what was going on too of course, and didn't want to ask you straight away when much of your army was so close. Odds are they will ask you themselves in the next few days. We however, didn't tell them anything."

"Why?"

"Because it was them you were fighting, was it not? They were obviously fishing for information-"

"No," Rose cut him off flatly, going on to state what he already knew full well. "We fought a group of Mechanists, not mechs from Machina."

"Believe me, there is little difference. All mechs _are_ Mechanists."

"An jus' what d' y'all mean by that?" Bunnie Rabbot snapped, glaring at Raid. "Y' can't jus lump 'em all together like that!"

"Really, Miss Rabbot. Tell me, have you ever been to Machina?"

She continued to stare at him but seemed unable, or unwilling, to reply.

"I didn't think so. I, however, _have_ been there, and I was certainly not made to feel welcome. Mechs have visited Chestnut on occasion too, and we have always had trouble."

"Mechs aren't all bad," Rose growled, and shot Sonic a glare that would have melted steel. "Miles was proof of that."

Raid sat back to observe the fireworks for a moment.

"You know what?" Sonic shot back looking more than just uncomfortable as he shifted in his chair. Apparently the Spyder had managed to cause quite some pain to his back. "I'm sick of this! I wasn't the only one who saw him!"

"It could have been anything!" Rose shouted. "There was all kinds of weird stuff down there! What about that _other _fox Cyborg, that one you say he killed? Don't you think that maybe it could have been that?"

Sonic was silent. Apparently, he didn't know what to think.

And this was one of Raid's objectives for the day; the Guyde being destroyed and, even worse, being found was something of a problem. It was something that he had to iron over.

"Excuse me," he asked carefully, "but what are you talking about?"

Silence. He had set the bait, but would they take it?

"The friend Amy spoke of... He seemed to turn on us. But we don't know if it was him," Sally Acorn said.

"It wasn't!" Rose immediately insisted.

"Amy, we don't know that," Acorn continued. "You said it yourself- the swatbots followed him here. He could have easily been working with them..."

"This friend," Raid asked, "what did he do exactly?"

"Freedom Fighters saw a mech fox that kept attacking soldiers from the air vents. It kept killing them one at a time."

"Yeah, and I was one of them," Sonic said.

"Hm," Raid replied, "This Cyborg... You say it attacked from the air vents?"

"Yes."

"...I may know who you are talking about. Well, maybe, but... We tend to get an unhealthy number of mercenaries around Chestnut, most of them being ex-Freedom Fighters who came off the end of the war badly. They are something of a problem to us because extremist groups like to hire them- like Mechanists for example, but there was _one_ of them who... developed a reputation."

Silence once more.

"For what?" Sally asked carefully.

"Killing. Assassination of political figures mainly, but he would often kill during robberies too, and he would always make use of air vents to move around. It was because of this thing that I became Mayor in fact- it murdered my predecessor, and I was the only one willing to take his place."

They were all totally focused on him. He had them wrapped around his little finger.

"The mech was a canine. One with astounding reflexes from what his few witnesses tell me, and one with blades in his arms. Does that sound familiar?"

He knew, even without looking at them, that his description was indeed familiar. And he hadn't exactly been lying- a canine mech, a Cyborg to be exact, had killed off important political figures and allowed him to become Mayor.

He hadn't said it was Prower though.

But they didn't need to know that- they could make their own conclusions.

"It wasn't Miles," Rose immediately said.

Raid fought a frown. He hadn't _quite_ expected that...

"Amy, you found him in Chestnut," Sonic replied. "He is a mercenary. He is a canine. He has those claws... Walkers, I should have known. He was always against us... I should have known..."

Sonic buried his face in his hands. Rose glared at him, seething with anger.

"You're wrong!" she yelled. "You're wrong! He was always with us, _with you_, even when you banished him! And I'll prove it too, to all of you!"

She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Well sugar-hog, ah think y' should know, ah agree with her," Rabbot said quietly. She stood and followed after Rose.

Only now, Raid allowed himself to frown. That was indeed unexpected- the two girls were not falling into place.

That could cause a problem.

But how to deal with it?

----------

He didn't know how long he had been walking.

He'd stopped caring a while back- it wasn't important really. Thinking was something he needed to do less of. Thinking brought pain.

Just to take one step after another... that was all he had needed to do.

But then, he failed in that too. And he found himself face down in the dirt.

His legs ached.

He had been here for what, four days, now? Just lying... motionless. Too tired to move, or to care. Why should he need to move, anyway? What for?

To get out of this uniform?

Or to find water, perhaps?

Well his mouth was dry, but it had rained yesterday. He had got some then, even though he would rather not have. If he stayed here long enough he would die eventually, and then he wouldn't feel so bad anymore.

And it would hopefully be a better way of dying than running himself through.

That was a painful memory.

The horror he had experienced when he had escaped Robotropolis so many years ago was something that would always haunt him. He could picture it clearly, as he stood in the sewers, soaked and shivering in the dirty water as he screamed, looking at the blades coming out of his hands.

He'd tried to kill himself a number of times afterwards, each being it's own terrifying ordeal. What made it worse was that each time, once he had worked up the courage to stab himself and had fallen unconscious, he would wake up to find that he had healed up a few days later.

All that was left were a few lingering scars.

And memories.

But maybe this time he would get lucky, and finally the nightmare that was his life would end.

----------

"What're ya doin'?"

"I'm going to find him."

Bunnie watched as Amy moved swiftly around her room, grabbing various items and stuffing them into a backpack. Her expression was that of total determination- there wasn't much on Mobius was going to be able to stop her, but Bunnie would try anyway. Amy needed a plan after all, and this would force her to think of one.

"An jus how do y'all expect to pull that off?"

Amy paused.

"He said he'd be going west after he was finished in Knothole, remember? I'll go west from where we last saw him."

"He's jus one fox. This is a big world, Amy-girl."

"I know that!" she snapped. "I'll... I'll take a hover-car. It can track life signs."

"Y'know that that won't be useful if he's in a town or somethin', right?"

"Maybe he's still wearing his uniform. That can be tracked easily."

"Doncha think he would've dumped it?"

She stopped packing, and her head drooped. Her spines fell forward, covering her eyes with shadow.

"Bunnie... I have to find him. I can't just leave him alone for another 10 years... You understand that, don't you?"

Bunnie stepped forward and placed her hands on the younger girls shoulders. She looked up into the rabbit's eyes.

"Yeah. Ah do, but y' have to understand that it ain't gonna be easy, and even if you do find him he won't be trustin' ya."

"...I have to find him," Amy repeated simply.

Bunnie sighed.

"Ah should be stoppin' ya from goin', but... Amy, you'll be headin' to Machina. I dunno what you'll find there, but you have to try to talk to whoeva's in charge. Try 'n keep 'em calm. I'll be talkin' to Sally-girl, but buy what Raid's been sayin', we could be lookin' at another war here."

Once she had gathered her things, Amy made a short stop at her students' dorms before heading to the storage hangers where the hover-cars were kept. She had to, really. Tom had awoken a day after returning to Knothole, and his 'modification' had caused real distress amongst the kids. Some were shocked, and others were sympathetic. Disturbingly, others became quite hostile to him... It was mechs that attacked Knothole.

And now, he was now something of a mech, too.

Needless to say, he didn't have a girlfriend anymore.

Out of all of the kids, he was the one whom she was most worried about, but Bunnie promised to look after him. She had found some comfort in that- if anyone knew about gaining artificial implants unwillingly, it was her.

It was late at night now, so none of the kids were awake, but she had talked to each of them anyway. Perhaps they would have heard her in their dreams or something.

She made her way to the hangars and soon found one of the hover-cars, but stopped short when she noticed another figure cloaked in shadow nearby. It was a hedgehog, and for a moment she thought that it might have been that one that attacked when they were returning to Knothole with Miles after they had first found him- but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it turned out to be another.

"You're going to look for him."

She blinked.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I knew you'd try something like this. You're going to look for him."

It was a statement, not a question, though Amy felt she needed to answer anyway.

"Yes, Sonic, I am. Are you going to try to stop me?"

"No," he replied bluntly. "I don't really care about you going to look for him, but don't you dare bring him back here."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Sonic didn't take the question too well- he looked almost shocked for a moment, as though he hadn't really decided on how he felt about the fox. But soon his expression darkened.

"He tricked us," Sonic said quietly. "He's been planning something like this for a long time. He's with those Mechanists. He was with Robotnik."

"You're just saying that because of Raid!"

Sonic gave her a strange, grim smile. "You know, I never told anyone where I found him."

"In the Great Forest. I've heard that story a million times-"

"No. Where I _really_ found him."

Amy blinked, confused. Sonic seemed to take her expression as a signal to begin.

So, he told her.

----------

His first thoughts of Robotropolis: creepy, intimidating. And exciting too, in a strange way. Any other would have been scared out of their wits to see the remains of the pinnacle of Mobian civilization in ruins, like the other new Freedom Fighters that he was with, but Sonic was not just any Mobian.

Besides, he was young enough not to remember clearly what Mobotropolis had been like before Robotnik had overtaken the city and renamed it, so it seemed to him like the city had always been this way.

There were just a few of them on this mission- Sonic, of course, along with two others, and they had been sent to chart this area of Robotropolis. Whilst the city had remained relatively unchanged when Robotnik took over, there were a few areas which had been altered to accommodate the doctor's needs and, such as this one, experiments.

They had seen a number of strange things so far. Machines who looked like Mobians- 'Robains', like the ones that the robotisizer created, only these ones were motionless, completely dead, and were placed along the walls in glass cabinets.

Many of them had the odd limb removed and it's innards exposed.

They had passed a number of doors during their trek, though thought it best not to enter most of them. They all had some plaque marking them as a chamber for some particular experiment, but one was quite different- just a small, simple door with no marking on it at all. So it was this one that they went into to hide when they heard the footsteps of swatbots nearby.

Sonic stood next to the door, listening for them to leave. The other Freedom Fighters with him however, were a bit more curious.

"What the hell is that?" he heard one of them, a monkey named Callum, say.

"I dunno man..." the other, a beaver called Joel, replied.

Sonic ground his teeth together. Them talking could give them away, and whilst he had no doubt that he could get away without a problem, they probably could not.

He turned and walked further into the room. It led around a corner where, at the end, was a sight that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

There, suspended in one of the vats in a strange pale blue liquid, was a young fox. It was utterly motionless, it's eyes closed and it's face the very image of calm as it floated there, as if it were in a deep sleep.

Sonic found himself morbidly fascinated and horrified.

Was it a robot?

No, it looked too... 'real' to be a machine. It had fur, and it appeared to be breathing. So then, did Robotnik steal it from it's family? Did he... create it somehow? Why would he bother keeping it?

Sonic walked closer, still staring, and placed his hand on the cool glass.

"Hey, watch it Sonic," Callum said shakily, also staring up at the kit. "You don't know why that freak's there."

"Freak?" he asked.

"It's got two tails, look."

Was that why it was there? Was it some kind of experiment? Why was it locked away in some weird goo?

He looked from the tails back to it's face, and immediately his heart leapt up his throat.

_It was watching him._

----------

"I felt sorry for him, so I broke the vat and pulled him out. The guys I was with tried to stop me, they thought he was dangerous, but I did it anyway. And we must'a made a racket, 'cause then swatbots burst into the room. I got away with him, but the others didn't stand a chance. I was the only one who knew.

"If I told everyone that he was some weird experiment, they'd kick him out of Knothole. I didn't want that- I felt sorry for him, 'cause he didn't seem to know what was going on. He was just a kid, and all he seemed to know was that his name was Miles Prower."

Amy felt like she had just been shot.

"So..." Sonic continued, "I made up some story about finding him in the Great Forest and that his parents had been killed by 'Buttnik. He was completely out of it- that goo he was in musta done something to his head, because he believed what I said. I remember askin' him about it once, and he honest-to-Walkers thought I had found him in the woods, and that his parents had been shot. He probably still believes it.

"But it looks like I didn't change his loyalties. He was always meant to fight against us- that's what Robotnik made him for."

Amy stood stupefied for the longest time, not knowing what to think. Was it true? She remembered that Tails had always had some natural talent for fighting. Had he been... made, by Robotnik- was he some sort of weapon? Was 'Miles' the person he was always destined to grow into?

If so... If he was really a traitor, then maybe she shouldn't follow-

_'No.'_

She blinked at the voice in her head. It was so sudden and final that it didn't seem like she had thought it at all, like someone else had said it. And the more she thought about it, the more it seemed that way.

And she knew then that she had to find him. Find him and help him look for himself.

Help him find Tails... the fox he was supposed to be.

She didn't spare Sonic another glance as she boarded the hover-car and set out into the night.

----------

Sonic watched Amy leave silently.

Truthfully, he didn't know what to make of recent events. He had been elated that Miles had appeared, but things had changed so suddenly. He'd always thought the fox to be his best friend when they were younger, but...

Miles had attacked him.

It was because of Miles that Sally and he had been captured in the first place.

Miles could easily therefore have been the one attacking Freedom Fighters in the Mechanist base, trying to cause havoc to their plans.

Was it so wrong to label his old friend as an enemy? He had all the reason in the world to do so. Heck, the fox's sinister origin was reason enough.

But Amy was so totally convinced otherwise...

Why?

Did she know something he didn't?

Sonic sighed, and began to make his way slowly and carefully back to his and Sally's chambers. He didn't want to irritate his back more- Miles had really done one over on him.

But before he entered the palace, he found himself turning to look up at the sky, thinking once more.

They were both, or at least had been, his friends, Amy and Tails. He knew he couldn't trust Tails – or more appropriately Miles, because he was someone else entirely he realised – and now that Amy had sided with him he couldn't really trust her either.

But she still felt something for them.

Hope, maybe?

Or perhaps contempt.

"I hope you'll be happy together," he muttered, before returning to his chambers to comfort his fiancée.


	11. What do you want?

Well, here we go again. Another short-ish chapter, but one that was definitely necessary. Once again there are bits I'm not happy with, but then this version of the story is pretty much the first draft. Once it's done I'm going to go back to Chapter 1 and edit from there until I'm happy.

Anyway, I've kept you waiting long enough. Enjoy, and remember to review!

**Chapter 11: What do you want?**

The first clue was a blip on the hover-car's scanner, and it was a simple matter for Amy to redirect the vehicle towards it.

The second and final clue was a crumpled black, grey and orange form in the middle of a plain en-route to Machina.

She had had a rough idea where to look all along, thankfully- it had been a good idea to convince Miles to wear the Freedom Fighter uniform after all, because she had been able to trace it. And, there he was.

Amy brought the hover-car to a gentle halt a few metres away from the fallen two-tailed fox, and sighed to herself. Partially in relief that she had been able to find him at all- and partially in fear of his condition. He lay face down in the dirt, unmoving.

She climbed out of the pilot's seat and hurried out of the vehicle, making her way to the fox as quickly as she could.

For a moment she stood over him, a cold numbness taking over her.

The dirt beneath him was stained red.

She turned him over, though it took some effort (his slim figure made him appear deceptively light), only to find three slits in his bloodstained uniform.

She didn't know what to do for a moment.

He'd tried to kill himself.

----------

The first sound that Miles heard as he came to was a harsh one.

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are?" a female voice snapped, and he frowned as he found himself looking up at Amy Rose.

It was sunset. A fire was crackling ahead of him, one Amy must have set up from whatever supplies she had in a nearby hover-car. He was lying on a blanket, a rather soft one, the Freedom Fighter uniform he had been wearing was gone and his chest was covered in bandages.

He wondered for a minute why, until the memory hit him.

Oh.

Oh, yeah.

Amy seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment, scrutinising his face. She moved closer, and began to reach for his left eye.

"Why did you do it Miles?" she asked. "When I found you, I thought you were dead. If I hadn't found you, then you probably would be by now."

He swallowed a growl of anger and frustration.

"You should have left me," he said through a dry throat, and began to sit up, pushing her away. The disturbance brought about a painful cough.

"What, did you want to die?"

"Yes."

Not even his enhanced senses were enough to warn him of the incoming slap.

"Don't you dare say that. Ever."

He blinked, not expecting the stinging in his cheek at all.

"...you don't understand," he hissed, as she returned to checking his eye. "And what the heck are you doing?"

"Your eye. The contact is damaged-"

Suddenly she pulled it, and his eye abruptly felt less... constrained. It was a strange sensation, one he certainly didn't expect as the contact lens cover for his bionic eye was removed.

"There," she said, and looked at him.

Miles had to admit that she hid her recoil quite well. Better than he thought she would, and better than most of the people who had seen his eye for real. It was intimidating he knew, being somewhat similar to Robotnik's with the only major difference being that it had a blue pupil rather than red.

He looked to the contact Amy held- it was torn, so he wouldn't be able to use it again. The glass in the Mechanist base had really done one over on it.

"How did you know about the contact?"

"Well," she said uncomfortably, "when you arrived in Knothole Dr. Quack did a quick analysis of you."

His expression darkened at the intrusion of his privacy, and he glared at her. She seemed quite taken aback, now that he didn't look like any old Mobian. He really did look like a Mech.

"Why are you here?" he hissed. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"I'm not going to leave you alone until I know you're okay."

He gave a snort, not believing her for a second.

"I knew, you know. I knew that things were going to go wrong. I knew that you were going to turn on me."

"Miles-"

"I knew!" he said, cutting her off. "But I refused to listen to myself. I listened to you instead, and look where that got me. And now you're here to finish me off."

"If I'm here to kill you, then why have I healed you?" she shot back.

"To make it more fun, right? A bit of sport?"

She stood and walked away a few feet in frustration.

"I'm right, ain't I? Any minute now, Sonic will come over the horizon and cut me in half. Can you tell him to hurry the hell up?

"Do you know, he was the closest thing I ever had to a father." He gave a small, humourless laugh. "And know he wants me dead. How pathetic is that? How did I manage to screw things up so much?"

"It isn't your fault," She replied, not looking at him. "None of what has happened is your fault. It's all because of Robotnik and what he did to you. It's like he planned it all for his own amusement."

There was silence.

"Go away, Rose," Miles said finally.

"No. I'm not leaving until you're alright again."

"Right. Well look, I'm alive now, thanks to you," he said with an almost accusing tone.

"Sonic didn't mean to hurt you, you know."

There was silence once more, and she turned to find him staring at her.

"Uh-huh."

"I mean it. No one knows what's really going on... All the nearby states are demanding to know what's happening thanks to the incident with the Mechanists. Raid from Chestnut is busy blaming the Mechs and getting Sonic and Sally in on it too, whilst the Mechs are blaming them back. Sonic thinks you're the reason that this is happening, but only because he has no idea what it could be otherwise."

"And you? What do you think's happening?"

She seemed to think about that for a moment.

"I don't know. I think it involves you... But I don't think it's your fault."

"It is," Miles mumbled and bowed his head, becoming quiet and unresponsive. Amy decided to change the subject.

"So where are you going to go now?"

"...I don't know."

"Away from Knothole, though."

"..."

"Don't you think you should have said good-bye to Cream first? What about Tom? He could really use your help right now."

"I'm no use to them."

This was getting Amy nowhere- he was just getting more and more depressed. So, it was time for a change of tactics.

"Yes you are. Especially Tom. What was it like for you when you first got... changed?"

"I wanted to die."

"Do you know what? Tom doesn't. He's making an effort to get on with his life."

"He has friends to help him."

"So do you, if you'd let us."

"You don't understand!" he suddenly roared, "You- you!"

For a moment Amy thought she had pushed him a bit too far. He seemed to be struggling to control himself, his hands shaking as they clenched and unclenched into fists periodically.

"You're no friend of mine! I lost them all years ago!"

"I'm still the same person I was back then, Tails!" she said, his nickname being used for a reason. "We used to play dirt hockey together, remember? We were going to take on the older kids as a team! We played tag and all sorts of games! We were friends! It isn't my fault that you got exiled, but I did my best to help you! Sally pulled all the strings she could to save you, and Sonic searched for months to find you afterwards! Don't you dare blame us for it!"

He was seething. She pushed on.

"You're right, you know, you were right- it is your fault that we are in this mess! We had nothing against you, but you acted all 'bad-boy' against us anyway! You gave us, Sonic too, a reason to be suspicious! Always taking the high ground, it's not like you had any reason to be angry! We did all we could for you, but you just choose not to see it!

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up! You have no idea what you're talking about! I didn't want you to follow me, I didn't want to meet you in the first place! I didn't want any of this!"

"What about me? Do I look like I want to be involved in this mess too? What about Tom, he doesn't exactly want what's happened to him."

Miles was shaking violently. She was close now- just one step remained.

"Tell me, Miles." she said. "What is it you want?"

"I... I..."

He stopped, confused, suddenly given room to think.

What did he want? Money? Power? Freedom, even?

No.

It was something else entirely, the problems that were pressing down on him, the feelings he harboured for those of his past. It was the first thing that came to him.

And it was so obvious.

He wanted to be rid of them.

"I..."

He swallowed.

"I... want to be able to forgive. Forgive. Them- Aunt Sally, Sonic, Bunnie. Everyone. I want... them to, to forgive me for what I have done. I... want to be able to accept who I am, this thing I have become. And then... and then I want to be able to leave that behind and move on."

Amy was silent now, listening to him talking, thankful for making him finally open up to someone. It was harsh – his tears showed that he was on the verge of crying – but it had to be done. And she doubted that she could stop him now anyway, now that the floodgates were open.

"I don't want to be this, this stupid 'bad-boy' loner. I don't want to be obsessed by my past. I want to just let go of this anger I have for everything. Ever since the nightmare started, I've hated everyone." He suddenly stared at her. "Even you. You've always had a home. You've had some semblance of a family. You knew who your parents were, you know where you came from. You all have that in Knothole. But I never have.

"And I'm jealous. I don't want to be, but I can't help it. It's not fair. You have it all, but I had it all taken away from me. I was put through hell and spat out into the dirt whilst you lived in comfort. That's what I hate more than everything." He closed his eyes tightly.

"I... Hate having these feelings."

She didn't know what to say.

"I just want... to let it all go," he managed in a shaking voice. "But I can't. I just can't seem to do it. I'm so scared of everyone, because you all bring this out in me. And because of that, I hate them so much too."

He let out a sob, finally just managing one last sentence before breaking down with his arms covering his head.

"I- I don't... I don't want to be alone anymore."

She watched him cry for a minute. It was so surreal to watch the mercenary in this state that she couldn't help but watch.

But it wasn't long until she moved to be next to him, and put her arms around him. He immediately clung onto her.

They stayed like that all night.

----------

When Miles awoke, the fire was still burning. Amy must have relit it, he thought to himself, looking around as he sat up, searching for the female hedgehog.

It was morning now, and the sun was quite pleasant as it shone down on him. The sky was clear, and the air was clean. It was almost perfect- the perfect image of his mind.

He felt better. Not perfect because he had many lingering questions, and the feelings were still there- but better than he had been for a long, long time.

Eventually he found her, descending from the rear-loading ramp of her hover-car. They looked at each other for a while, neither really knowing what to say, but it was Amy who eventually broke the silence.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I... I don't know. Better, I think. Empty, too."

"Well..." she sighed. "Thank you for opening up to me."

"Yeah."

"No, I mean it," she insisted. "Have to ever told anyone what you told me?"

"Never."

He had told her his feelings, and for that he felt like something had been lifted from him. But it didn't change a whole lot- Knothole still saw him as a traitor. Sonic sill wanted him dead.

"What happened, Amy?" he asked suddenly, wanting to know. "Why did everyone attack me? What did I do?"

"There was another Cyborg there. A fox, one that everyone mistook for you. Our troops, because they saw your claws in that battle, Sonic because you tried to attack him when the Mechanists attacked Knothole..."

Miles winced.

"He told you about that?"

"Sally did."

"I... I didn't mean it." And that was true- the Guyde had caused him to threaten Sonic like that. But Sonic probably didn't know.

"Well, either way, he thinks that you did. He thinks that you were with them all along."

"Why? He only has what they said as proof. What about the Cyborg I killed, the Guyde? That was the fox one you mentioned, right?"

"The Guyde?" she asked, "That's what it's called?"

"It told me that was it's name. It seemed to be able to control my emotions. That's why I almost attacked Sonic- it made me do it. You guys have it's body- surely they must know that by now."

But how could they, Amy thought to herself. They had no way to know for certain. Dr. Quack was going to take the thing apart; she had known that before she had left. But it would take time.

But Sonic didn't need that. All he needed to know was that Miles had – intentionally or unintentionally – betrayed them. That, combined with knowledge of where Miles came from in the first place...

"I bet he won't care, though. It's like someone has had it in for me ever since I was born," Miles muttered.

'You weren't born,' Amy thought, Sonic's disturbing story coming back to her immediately. She suppressed a shudder. 'You were made'.

Feeling uncomfortable, she decided to change the subject.

"What are you going to do now?" She asked quietly.

He thought for a moment.

"I don't know."

"Miles..." Amy said, thinking carefully. "I can't guarantee you anything, but..."

He looked at her, frowning slightly.

"Bunnie asked me to do something. She asked me to go to Machina."

"To keep them calm, right? To let them know Knothole had no hostile intent towards them?"

"Yeah. Now... Things are getting tense. I have to go there, because we could be on the verge of a war."

"You want me to go with you."

She nodded.

"All this has blown out of proportion ever since you appeared. The Cyborgs, the attack on Knothole... As far as I'm concerned, it's too much of a coincidence. You're the key, I'm sure of it.

"Like I said, I can't guarantee you anything, but if you come with me and we see this through... Then maybe you can move on afterwards. You can close this episode of your life."

He thought about her offer carefully. It involved him having to face all he hated once more, and he would be getting no money out of it. And the alternative- well, all he had to do was look to the east. Open land, the opportunity to escape.

To run away.

And that thought cut deep. He could run, and indeed he felt the longing to- but it wouldn't solve anything. And besides, deep inside he still held the lessons he had been taught in his childhood.

Sonic never ran away from his problems.

"I'll help you, Miles. I'll help you let go and find yourself again."

Her words were comforting.

"Yeah..." he muttered, then repeated with more confidence, looking towards her. He had no idea that she didn't find his bionic eye quite so unnerving anymore.

"Yeah."

She smiled, and began to make her way back to the hover-car.

"Amy," he called after her, pushing himself to his feet. He felt stronger now, despite having run himself through only a day before.

She looked back at him.

"Thank you," he said, and she smiled once more.

"It's no problem, Miles."

And it was time then for him to make an effort. She could try to help him for the rest of her life, but if he didn't help himself, then it would all be worthless. It was time for him to try to be who he wanted to be.

He had to start somewhere.

"Please... don't call me that."

She frowned, questioningly.

"Call me Tails. You... You can call me Tails."

Amy grinned.

And he found it contagious.


	12. Talking with Gods

Well it's been a while, eh? Sorry! I've been busy (it's an awful excuse I know, but there really isn't a whole lot I can do about it...)! Still, it could have been worse. It could have been half a year!

Anyway, once more there are bits I want to change with this, but you've all been waiting long enough. This chapter has many revelations in store, so I hope you enjoy them. There have been clues throughout the story that have been building to this- I wonder if anyone spotted them...

Enjoy! I hope not to take so long with the next update- I'd hate to leave things here... ;-) As always, constructive comments are accepted and appreciated. I have to say that I won't be using any fan characters though, as I don't want to move the focus away from the main characters...

**Chapter 12: Talking with Gods**

"Machina will not act against us, at least not for a while yet," Sally said soothingly to her friend. "You don't need to worry- we'll get this sorted out."

Bunnie was having none of it.

"With all due respect, y' highness, I don't think there's gonna be any negotiatin' at this rate."

Sally frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, I think dear 'ol Raid has got his way. It looks like that anyway- he want's somethin' outta a fight."

"To get rid of extremists in his state? That seems perfectly fair to me."

"Yeah, well, not all mechs are Mechanists. Doncha forget that, Sally-girl."

"Of course not Bunnie!" Sally said, sounding offended. She didn't know whether to believe it- the ground squirrel didn't seem able to look her in the eye, instead opting to wonder to her bedroom window and look out over the courtyard of Knothole Palace. Bunnie followed, her stomach turning at the sight of Freedom Fighters being drilled under the observance of Sonic.

The blue hedgehog was clearly expecting to go to war. Sally appeared to be in a similar state even though she would not admit it. Bunnie wondered is Sonic had had anything to do with her state of mind- she was talking about negotiating, and had even summoned Bunnie to her room to assure that they would be doing all they could.

But simply looking out of the window made her realise that no one was really expecting it to work.

She wasn't going to be able to put Sonic and Sally off much longer. The two seemed paranoid. And with fair reason, she supposed. Miles' apparent betrayal and the growing instability was a painful reminder of when Robotnik seized power from the House of Acorn years ago. Sally would not be waiting around for things to spiral away from her control- she would not allow anyone to challenge her sovereignty...

But perhaps she could still be persuaded to be patient.

Bunnie sighed, and hoped that Amy was doing better.

----------

'Bunnie has to be doing better than this,' Amy thought to herself as she and Tails were herded through the Machina government building.

Tails was taking their treatment very well, at least by his usual standards. Heck, he was doing far better than she had expected anyway, appearing to be getting used to the new outlook on life that she had offered him. He was even walking taller, his back straight, and he looked more at ease with himself. He appeared more confident, even without the Freedom Fighter uniform. In fact his only attire now were a set of boots and a standard Freedom Fighter jacket, one of the blue ones he had worn before they went off to save Sonic, Sally and Bunnie. He was, clearly, quite comfortable with himself at the moment. Which was good- she had expected something more in line of having to hold his hand through most of his 'reconstruction', but no, living in Chestnut had made him awfully robust. For lack of a better term, she was proud of him.

He still had a way to go though- no-one on Mobius could heal this fast after what he had been through, and he wouldn't be complete until he returned to Knothole and made his peace. But that could wait for now.

They had arrived about half an hour or so ago, pulling into the city through a gate in the city wall- one patrolled by armed guards who were none too pleased to see Knothole troops (well, 'troop' really, seeing as Amy was the only Freedom Fighter out of the two of them). She was however a ranking officer, and her requests to speak with the mayor of Machina were not unexpected. Bunnie had done her job she supposed, not only delaying Sally but mounting some form of negotiation too.

Still, the rabbit's help could only go so far, and it was very clear that they were now on their own. They had been escorted under armed guard to the council house, the government building of the city-state, and frankly it was anyone's guess whether the guards were there to protect her and Tails from the residents of Machina, or vice-versa.

The looks the guards were giving them, and the way the odd mechanical eye would follow them independent of the other made it clear what the situation, exactly, was.

But eventually they made it to an office door with the label 'Kage'. They were herded inside, one guard with a blaster for a right arm following close behind and taking up position by the door.

"So these are the councillors from Knothole," said Mayor Kage as two mobians entered his office. "I had thought that Knothole didn't want anything to do with us."

"Some don't, Mayor Kage. But some of us do," Amy replied, sighing and looking around, trying not to stare at the dingo. Half of his body was metal. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amy Rose, and I am a member of the leading council of Knothole. And this," she said, gesturing to the figure behind her, "is-"

"A mech?" Kage said with surprise, looking at the tall, lanky fox with the glowing blue bionic eye.

"...yes. His name is Miles Prower, or 'Tails'."

It felt good to her to be able to say his nickname so freely.

Kage nodded a greeting, eying the fox's twin appendages. It was funny, he thought, how he almost seemed to flinch when Miss Rose referred to them. "Of course. I apologise, Mr. Prower, I did not mean to sound rude. I am just surprised that a mech would be from... Knothole."

"I understand," Tails said simply. And he did, probably more than anyone else in the room.

"He isn't from Knothole really," Amy said, "but he is here for a reason."

"Being?" Kage asked.

"A, uh, 'personal' concern," Tails replied, taking on the semi-relaxed persona that had displayed back in the school in Knothole. "I don't want to see Mobius tear itself apart."

Kage sighed and nodded wearily, leaning on his desk. He gestured to the chairs on the other side. "I see. Please, sit."

They did so. Amy was thankful for the opportunity to relax a little- this was the first time that something so important rested entirely upon her. Well, Tails was here she supposed, but his diplomatic skills were not exactly his shining virtue. She glanced at him, and found him to appear as relaxed as she had ever seen. He looked back, his expression radiating calmness, and she realised suddenly that he had absolute faith in her. He knew that she had the ability to pull this off.

Well, maybe she did. After all, she had managed to kill off the cold-hearted mercenary, hadn't she? She was acting as his support, and had done so spectacularly well so far. She had saved him from madness and suicide. If anyone was going to trust her ability, then it was going to be him.

She really had accomplished one hell of a lot.

Suddenly, Amy Rose felt a whole lot better.

"Honestly, I'm surprised that you are here," Kage said. "It seems to me that Knothole has made up it's mind about us- I am aware of the growing military presence near our border, and I have to wonder if you two are here to distract me from it."

There was silence.

"...It's the first I've heard of it," Amy replied slowly, hiding her apparent horror as well as she could. Kage scanned her face, looking for a lie. "I assure you, we have nothing to do with it."

"Well now you know, and you should be aware, Miss Rose, that we will not let it go unnoticed. We do have a military, and it is moving to protect our land- just in case hostilities break out."

"Knothole... Knothole does not have a problem with mechs," Amy said carefully. "It is the Mechanists that concern us, and unfortunately not many people understand the difference."

"Then tell them, I cannot easily control a group of activists."

"The army won't listen to us-"

Kage abruptly leant back, and Amy fell silent.

"Then why are you here, Miss Rose?"

"We need to know something," Miles said quietly. Kage eyed him suspiciously. Clearly, he had not expected that.

"Really? Information isn't free, especially from someone who appears to be turning into your enemy."

"Listen, please," Amy said, almost desperately. She didn't really know if she was using that tone of voice willingly or not. "We need to talk to the Mechanists. We need to find their leader, and present him to Knothole. That would prove that Machina has nothing to do with them."

There was a minute of silence, time Kage spent turning the idea over in his head.

"Why do you want to do that?" he asked eventually. Amy spent a few moments thinking carefully how to answer, eventually settling on a hunch.

"Were you a Freedom Fighter once, Kage?" she asked.

"Yes, I was. And I'm glad that it's behind me."

"Do you remember what it was like? To be at war all the time, to be fighting against extinction every day?"

He nodded, understanding.

"I see. You don't want that to happen again," Kage finished for her. He sighed. "If that is true... then you have a noble cause."

"Please help us," Amy said. "Where are the Mechanists, who can we talk to?"

She could see him thinking, running through the possible outcomes of telling her. Thankfully, he decided on the right one.

Truthfully, the right one for everyone.

"I don't know of anyone particularly important... But I know where they're based. Head to Tau, well, Tau-27. Maybe you'll find someone there."

"Okay, thank you Mayor Kage," Amy said as she stood, feeling a weight fall from her shoulders that she hadn't realised was there. That had been easier than expected. She looked to Tails, and was surprised to see he was already standing.

He was looking at her, frowning in thought.

----------

Tails had been silent for a long time now, only speaking very briefly when they were preparing for their journey. She glanced back at him occasionally, and had been doing so ever since they had set off- an hour had passed, and she couldn't take it anymore.

"What's the matter, Tails?" she asked. He did not reply for a long time, and she began to think if he was having second thoughts about the name and was ignoring it. So she tried again.

"Tails-"

"It seems strange to me," he interrupted, the name apparently not being ignored. Maybe he was still getting used to it. His head was resting in his right hand, and he slowly looked forward towards Amy in the cockpit of the hover-car.

"What does?" she replied, glancing back to him.

"Mechanists being based in Tau-27. Seems a bit more than coincidence to me."

"Why's that? It's just one of the towns, isn't it?"

"Sort of. I've never been there, but I've met people who have. Y'know the Capital, Tau-01?"

"Yeah... why's it called that? Those names are kinda... creepy."

Tails 'hummed', thinking. "Well apparently a lot of Robians live there, y'know, fully robotisized Mobians? I guess it's logical to them to name towns in order like that or something. But anyway, Tau-01 wasn't the first city there. 27 was, and the only reason it's called that is because that it's built on one of Robotnik's old bunkers."

"Called Tau-27," Amy finished.

"Exactly. If that's where they're based, then it's probably where cult sprang up from in the first place. Inside one of Robotnik's... lairs."

There was a moment of silence.

"Swatbots, Cyborgs, that base where Sonic and Sally were taken..." Amy muttered, looking out of the hover-cars canopy as she guided it gracefully towards the horizon. "Even your reappearance. What do you think?"

"I think we need to get inside that bunker. I think the first mobians that went there after Robotnik's fall found something. I want to know what it is."

"Yeah, me too."

----------

Sally hadn't listened, and Bunnie hadn't been able to stand the lack of progress. So, she did the first thing to come to mind, which happened to be to eat. It was lunchtime, after all.

But, it didn't look like she was going to be relaxing just yet, for as she approached the cafeteria a mocking voice drifted to her sensitive ears.

"Walkers, I am so glad I'm not you, you're pathetic!"

Bunnie was alarmed, knowing somehow what the problem was even before the entered the room. And, lo and behold, she was right- Tom was being picked on again.

It was pointless and cruel. But that was kids mixed with a group psychology for you.

"Aww, and you can't even cry can you, Mech?"

Enraged that the kids would act in such a way to one of their own, Bunnie made her way swiftly towards where the group stood surrounding the wolf. And that was when things took one more stride towards hell.

"Maybe this thing comes off- quit squirming! There's a button-"

"No don't touch that!" she heard Tom shout, seconds before a beam of red light lanced out from the visor-construct where his eyes used to be. It clipped the bully – a racoon named Andy – across his right arm, reducing the limb to a cauterised stump.

The screams from panicked palace workers seemed to go on for hours.

----------

It looked like the entrance to a military bunker. Just like the one back on the border of Machina, minus the trenches and mechs trying to kill them of course. But the similarity was unmistakable- even the layout of the interior (or at least what they could see of it through the open doorway) was the same.

Yes, the doors were wide open, inviting them in. Even more disturbing was the shantytown that was built up around the place- a town that was completely empty. It was a ghost town, where the only sound was of the wind blowing through its streets.

So this was Tau-27. There was even a 'welcome' sign on the edge of town.

Amy didn't like it at all. Neither did Tails.

"What do you think?" she asked, standing near to the bunker doorway. Tails was closer to it, looking inside, squinting into the darkness. She had tried earlier but really couldn't see much- she guessed that his bionic eye gave him some kind of advantage, so she was content to watch the town for movement. The hover-car was shut down and locked up a couple of metres away.

"I think we have to go in there," he said simply. He looked back at her. "But not unarmed. You got a weapon?"

"Yeah, I brought along my uniform. It's in the car." She paused, thinking for a moment. "You should probably put yours back on, too."

He frowned, looking back into the gloom, then back to her.

"Do I have to?" he asked, a tint of whining in his tone. She couldn't help but grin, having expected his response to be a bit... harsher. Well, she hadn't known what to expect really, but something considerably less positive.

"You should. It might save your life. And it has a radio if we get separated."

He sighed and nodded, walking towards her as she opened up the hover-car.

It did not take long to change, and they were soon ready, clad in their uniforms. Tails and Amy stood before the open doors of the bunker in the middle of Tau-27. The suits were fully charged and equipped, Amy sporting her combat knife, blaster rifle and her favourite modified pistol holstered at her side. A couple of fragmentation and smoke grenades completed the offensive weaponry list, and Tails' armour mirrored it for the most part, replacing the blaster for a more standard model and forgoing the rifle altogether.

They had even quickly got around the awkward moment when they both noticed the three cuts in the front of Tails' suit, which matched up with three scars on his chest.

"Ready?" he said, not taking his eyes from the darkness.

"Yeah," she replied, fiddling with something above the armour plate over her left breast. There was a click, and a small torch lit up, revealing more of the inside.

"Then let's go," Tails said, walking first through the doorway. She followed, and before they had walked even five meters the lights lit up in sequence, illustrating a path that headed down the flight of stairs before them and off to the right at the first T junction.

Neither moved for about half a minute.

"Well that was unexpected," Tails muttered.

"I don't like this," Amy said. "It looks like we're being led somewhere."

"If the Mechanists wanted us dead, they would have attacked us already," he said simply.

"Maybe they're leading us into an ambush or something?" she offered.

"Maybe. But it's kind of obvious if they are."

"But what else would they want us to find?"

He was silent once more, for a while.

"The same thing that they found when they first came here."

"This can't be good," she said, bringing her rifle up to her shoulder so that the barrel was pointing down the corridor.

"No, it can't. But there's only one way to find out exactly what it is."

She jumped at the sudden and violent ring of metal against metal, expecting something to leap out at her. But no, she reminded herself, looking at Tails. She had been forgetting about those claws of his.

"Come on. Let's find out what's going on," he said, and made his way down the stairs whilst drawing his pistol. She went with him, and they worked together as they followed the lit corridors, each taking turns in covering the other as they moved deeper into the building.

Eventually they reached a lift, looking like something that would not be out of place in a mine. It was carved into solid rock, as though the construction of this area had not been completed for some reason. That wasn't hard to imagine- the bunker was, like outside, completely deserted.

Yet still, every place they had needed to go to get here had been lit, every door had been open.

This was far too strange.

Something was wrong.

"I guess we go down here now," Amy said, looking at the lift. "Any second thoughts?"

"We've come too far to back out now," Tails replied. She nodded, stepping into the elevator. Tails followed, and with the press of a button they began to descend once more.

They went down for about half a minute before emerging into a large underground cavern. The area was empty, except of course for the lift... and a huge set of doors.

The doors were carved from wood, huge and clearly heavy. The Walkers knew how they had been brought down here in the first place, but they certainly had the desired effect.

"What the hell...?" Tails wondered out loud. He holstered his gun and retracted his claws, slowly walking towards the massive portal.

"Tails, wait-" Amy began, when suddenly with an echoing creek, the doors opened.

The room behind was bathed in darkness, a stark contrast from the well-lit cavern. But, as they walked through the threshold, the light appeared before them as it had done ever since they had entered the bunker.

And they laid their eyes on the Golden Throne of the Machine God.

"Ah…"

The voice boomed around the chamber, and Tails found his eyes rising from the huge, golden metal construct that appeared to fill half the room. A dome shaped panel seemed to pull away from the front of it, revealing a glass bubble filled with the naked, bloated form of an all-too familiar human.

"Walkers save us..." he heard Amy whisper from beside him.

Tails nodded his head absentmindedly in agreement.

"How nice it is when one's child comes home," Dr. Ivo Robotnik continued. But he did not move- in fact he looked to all the world to be dead, but the voice and the tone was unmistakable.

Tails thought he was going to be sick. The last time he had seen the madman...

"J- just what do you mean by that...?" he managed, trying to get his head around this new development, putting on his best glare as he did so. It made no difference.

"I must admit that I was starting to think that you'd never get here, Miles. I have waited a long time for you my son. Too long, but that is over now. Finally, it can begin."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Tails suddenly roared, a reflex, "I'm no son of yours!"

The fact that this man was supposed to be dead didn't seem to register. The shock factor on the two mobians was too great.

"Oh but you are. I fed and raised you, though I doubt you remember it, thanks to that interfering hedgehog. I gave you everything you need to survive in the outside world."

"You turned me into a monster!"

"No. I made you into a god."

"How can you say that!" Amy snapped. "You tortured him, you nearly killed him!"

"Silence!" the Machine God roared, shaking the very walls of the cavern. "Of course, I knew that mobians would never understand. They would never comprehend the magnitude of my task, and indeed the task of my son. King Acorn ignored my pleas, and that my dear is why I took Mobotropolis, and this world, for my own. To save it, from yourselves.

"Your petty differences make you squabble and scheme against each other. I saw it in Acorn's court, and I still see it now. Mobians were, and still are, on the path to destroy each other," Robotnik growled.

"I don't believe that," Amy said firmly. "I won't."

"My dear, I do not care what you think. I have proof, and that it enough for me; legends, ones which you no doubt read of in your childhood, state that a mobian, chosen by the Ancient Walkers, would come when needed to face the evils of the world. Tell me Miles, when was the last time you were ill? Truly ill?"

Amy looked at Tails, but he did not reply. He was searching, trying to remember- but he soon found that he could not.

"I... I don't know."

And Robotnik began to recite the saying that they had both heard some times before, in school textbooks and even at church. A few paid no attention to it, but to most it was a saying of hope and respect.

"He, the greatest of his kin, He, who is quick of mind and keen of senses. He who is untouched by disease or plague, from whom sickness flees, He, whose image is distorted and yet is great, shall stand before the darkness. He shall wield the finest weapons with the greatest skill, He shall have strategy and tactics so that none can best Him. He shall possess the might of titans...

"He shall be the Chosen One, and He shall know no fear."

There was silence. Slowly, Amy turned to look at Tails, wide eyed. He seemed remarkably calm.

"What?" the fox whispered.

"It fits you, does it not? I knew even before you were born. I heard your father Artemis, and even his brother Merlin talking of the possibility of you being a Chosen One. I knew the crisis over race was approaching, and when King Acorn chose to ignore my pleas I took it upon myself to see to it that you would fulfil your role. And I would do all I could to help you."

"But... I'm just a mutant, that's all..." Tails said shakily, denying.

"No. Your image is distorted- your second tail is the mark. You see visions and hear voices, only when you allow yourself to of course. Dead people- friends, family, talking to you, but no one else knows that they are there. Don't you?"

Amy waited for Tails to deny it once more. But, to her surprise and even shock, he didn't.

"So, Chosen One, I took it upon myself to help you in your task. Thus; robotisization. If all Mobians were machine, then there would be no differences. Everyone would live in unity of purpose. But it could never succeed perfectly were you not at my side to hunt down all who remained. I knew that my presence would unite them for a time but, as you have undoubtedly seen, afterwards the problems return.

"You were the key. You had to be with me. So, to make sure there were no... Complications, I removed you, Miles, from your mother's womb before you were born and placed you within an incubation chamber. Just to be certain. You grew quickly, and I must say you appeared to love it in there.

"And it was all going perfectly, until that blasted hedgehog showed up and 'liberated' you," Robotnik spat.

It clicked then in Amy's mind. Sonic's story, of Tails being made, it all fitted perfectly with what Robotnik saying. And if it was true – which certainly looked to be the case – then Tails was, willingly or not, the whole reason for why the war against Robotnik had started, and indeed why it was in it's current state.

She looked at him once more, and realised she had never seen anyone look quite so betrayed and horrified as he did right then. He was looking right back at her, begging for some kind of reassurance.

But she had none.

He had been doing so well.

One corner of her mind wondered how many more lies Tails could take.

"Sonic's intervention," Robotnik continued, "forced me to take extreme action. He and that princess filled your head which half-truths, the story of Acorn's fall from their point of view. Naturally, it is a biased one, and simply assumes that I did what I did for power alone. I knew that you would not believe me if I told you the truth, so I was forced into luring you out. Hence your DNA clone that murdered one of your accomplices, exiling you and granting the perfect opportunity to catch and complete your growth. Many have made the mistake in assuming you were and are incomplete. This is not so; you are all I wanted you to be. I knew that it would be impossible to control you in the manner of other Cyborgs. Your mind is too strong, and because of that you are, in fact, above and beyond all other Cyborgs. Though you do not yet know it or understand how to use them, you have no doubt granted skills by the powers of the Walkers themselves. You are my, and their, greatest creation. My Spyder, the Chosen One."

Tails was shaking his head slowly, not wanting to believe.

"Some form of control would still be needed, however. Thus, after your unexpected escape and the Freedom Fighter attack that destroyed my home and left me crippled, I had to look for alternate means. My machines brought me here, and installed me into this creation, my Golden Throne, a machine which will allow me to live forever. Time I have in abundance- so I looked for how I could manipulate you to do my bidding, one day bringing you here. So, I created the Guyde.

"The Guyde was Artemis, you biological father. It had to be him due to his almost... spiritual connection with you. After his upgrades, he was capable of suggesting ideas, or triggering emotions within you. The perfect tool for the perfect warrior. All that was necessary was to use him in combination with my Snyper, and a few swatbots or Mechanists, and you would do exactly what I wanted you to do, Miles. It had to be done, for the good of Mobius."

"Wait," Amy interrupted, "that... that means... you are the one starting this war... It was your followers who attacked Knothole, who were in that base near Machina..."

"Correct," the Machine God rumbled. "It is inevitable that a war over race is going to break out. The two sides will destroy each other, and the remains of my Grand Army, after what the damned hedgehog did to it, will have no trouble finishing off the survivors. The world would then be united with one glorious race; the machine. I merely accelerated the coming of the war so that Miles would be at the right stage to lead my army to victory and, should it be required, have the skill to kill the hedgehog."

"Kill... Sonic?" Tails muttered. Amy dared to look at him once more. He was still shaking his head.

"Of course, my son. He took you from your loving home, filled your head with lies, cast you out alone into the world and now brands you as a traitor. It is your duty and right to rid the world of him, and it is an honour that I will grant you- if you pledge your service and loyalty to me."

There was silence for a moment, but then Robotnik spoke with a note of finality in his voice.

"You have a choice to make now, Chosen One. It will decide the fate of your culture, and your species. Your decision is your duty and your destiny, and it is one you will live with for the rest of your life, so choose wisely. Your first option; you can join me, and together we would save Mobius from itself. We would unite the world under one rule, and create a glorious and lasting empire. It would be one that would stand the test of time under the perfect and benevolent rule of the Machine.

"Your second option; you go back to Knothole to those who set you on the road to suffering. To those who destroyed your hopes and cast you out into the world alone. To the ones who now look for you only to kill you. And, even should you make some peace with them, you would help to temporarily halt the coming war until another time, and make no mistake Chosen One- it would be sooner than you think.

"So. Choose."

Tails was silent, thinking carefully. Amy couldn't have spoken if she had wanted to.

No matter what his decision she knew that this was something he needed to do alone.

"You know," he said eventually, "for all of your intelligence... you really are a fool. I've learnt a lot recently," he said, now looking at Amy, "and now I think I understand it. No- I know I understand." He nodded his head to her.

"Thank you," he said softly, then looked back to the madman.

"Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, even Amy... they all looked after me as best they could in Knothole. They did not judge me. They never have. Sonic, even if..." he swallowed, "even if he knew that I came from Robotropolis, he still looked after me. He raised me as best he could. They all did. The only reason they turned on me was because of you.

"You stole my parents. You were the reason I was exiled. You've been manipulating me for years. You put all of this... This metal, these weapons into me- you never asked me if I wanted it! You caused me to," he paused, swallowing, "to- to kill my dad... and, and to attack and betray the closest thing I have ever had to a family! You've killed and destroyed the lives of thousands, millions... and now you're trying to start a war... And for what? Your own twisted view of perfection? You actually think that you're saving people, that you're doing this for them?!"

There was silence.

"I hate you," Tails said.

"Your decision?" the Machine God said, sounding as though it already knew the answer but needed it to be said anyway."

"I'm going back to Knothole," Tails hissed. "But I'm going to take a gift with me." There was a sharp metallic ring as his claws snapped out from his fists once more, and he began to advance on the Machine God. "You've some guts, Robotnik," he growled darkly. "Let's see what they look like."

And with that, the Spyder leapt towards the bubble that held the madman in the blink of an eye. And he almost made it too, when a bolt of blue light shot out from one of the bizarre and arcane contraptions from around Robotnik. Tails let out a yelp and was thrown back, flying through the chamber door with the force of a freight train. He landed roughly, almost thirty metres away.

Amy reacted by shouting the fox's name, aiming her blaster rifle and opening fire on the bubble. The bolts flew straight and true, but dissipated before Robotnik into a hazy force field.

"Insolent wretches!" The Machine God thundered as the armoured shell snapped down over the bubble. "You fools! Did you really think it would be so easy? And already you make your mistakes! You cannot win here. And understand this Prower, if you will not aid me in my quest, then there is another who will!

Tails staggered to his feet, running to the doorway. "What?" he gasped.

"And another choice for the so-called Chosen One! Perhaps I was wrong about you after all!" Robotnik continued, sounding almost entertained. "What will you do? Stand and fight, and try to kill me, or flee to save those who tried to kill you? They are already under threat and soon will be dead!"

Tails looked at Amy. She looked right back, and they both knew that they thought alike. They were the only ones who knew that their comrades were in immediate danger. They did not have time to stay here.

"Did you really think that I would not compensate for the possibility of the hedgehog's lies turning you?" Robotnik mocked. "And what is a warrior in the face of a God?"

They fled the chamber, accompanied by the echoing laughter of the Machine God and the wailing of the alarms throughout Tau-27.

**Author's note:** Yes, my spin on the Archie 'Chosen One' theme! Did anyone suspect this way back in chapter 6? Don't worry, Tails isn't going to become a Jedi or Neo with mind powers or anything like that... Speaking of Neo, I think Tails has a bit too much of that in him at the moment anyway. Sooner or later the fights will be altered to be a lot more brutal and, well, 'realistic'...

Please, your thoughts!


	13. The Long Road Home

And I return! And I've taken waaaay too long about it too. For that I sincerely apologise, and I promise I won't be taking another year to reach chapter 14.

Mostly action this time after the talking of chapter 12, so I hope it makes a nice change. As always there are bits I'd like to change, but then I think I've kept you all waiting long enough.

Comments are always welcome! And thank you to all of you who have left reviews so far. Each and every one has been helpful in some way, so cheers!

**Chapter 13: The Long Road Home**

"Tails... Thank you."

"For what?"

"For saying 'no'. And for what it's worth... I'm sorry for what he's done to you."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's his... and I swear, for what he's done to me, for what he's done to everyone... I'm going to make him pay."

"We've got to get out of here. We have to find Sonic and Sally."

"I know. And we will. Trust me."

----------

"He... refused?"

Raid raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, and settled back in his chair. That was a most unexpected result; Prower's behaviour had been something of a project of his for some time, and in his experience the Spyder had often acted with open hostility to those he deemed to have wronged him.

The scenario had called for him to become enraged for his treatment at the hands of the Knothole elite. Raid knew full well the work his Master had put into consistently framing him for acts he did not perform; indeed, Raid himself had done the same not too long ago when he fed Acorn some selective truths.

Interesting then how his anger instead was at Lord Robotnik. Apparently the boy saw the Machine God as being the one who had wronged him the most.

Raid stared across his desk at the red and black hedgehog who stood motionless in the middle of his office. He had returned to Chestnut a few days ago, and with current events he knew that he would not be here for long.

Idly, the mayor wondered what might have caused the Chosen One to turn against them. And he knew; there could only be one reason, and that one was, just like the Cyborg before him, a hedgehog.

A strangely amusing irony, how there always seemed to be a hedgehog at the root of his Master's problems.

"What are our commands?" Raid asked the Snyper, ignoring how Robotnik had chosen to relate his orders to the assassin instead of him. He would have his reasons.

"To do what must be done," an artificial voice ground out from a speaker somewhere on it's body. "The war must begin. Acorn must fall."

Raid nodded and rose from his desk.

"Very well. Then we shall keep to our plan, remember?"

Of course the Snyper did. It would never forget.

"Rachel?" he said, speaking to his secretary via an internal comm.-link built into his desk. "Cancel all other appointments for today; a serious matter has just come to my attention."

"Yes sir, will you need anything?"

"Yes, please alert the Chief of Police. I'm going to the Old Quarter, so I will need an escort."

"Yes sir, I'll get on it now."

"Excellent."

The plan was now in motion. The Snyper would do his job- Raid simply have to do his. But then he was capable... Robotnik had seen to that.

Raid looked up; Shadow was gone.

Yes, things would go perfectly.

----------

As soon as the lift reached the top, Tails knew that they were in for one hell of a fight.

Apparently, the base was not uninhabited save for one mad scientist- it's population had been hiding, and consisted of a large number of fanatical Mechanists, plus a few Robians.

Four of said Mechanists were waiting for Amy and he as they exited the lift, all of whom had blasters raised and pointed at them.

The first received a bolt to the head from Amy before he could pull the trigger, a testament to her superior training. They didn't seem to expect them to fight back against overwhelming odds, and the confusion gave Tails more than enough time to make his way between two of them, slashing a bloody path with his claws. He draw his pistol as he went, turning to face the last who, driven mad with hatred at seeing his allies dispatched so easily, charged wildly whilst swinging his blaster rifle round like a club.

Not having Amy's skill with firearms (or any real training other than experience), Tails snapped off a few bolts at his midsection, downing him loudly.

By the time he had finished Amy had moved up to the door of the room, scanning the corridor for hostiles. She saw a few and opened fire, just as Tails joined her.

"We have to get out of here," he said, following her example in shooting the Mechanists.

"You remember the way?" she asked.

"Yeah, left here."

"Right, ready?" she flashed him a small, strange smile. "10-6 was the score, right? I bet we can beat that." He blinked, and her smile widened. "Teamwork, Tails. Like dirt hockey, remember?"

He returned the smile, suddenly knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah, teamwork, Amy. Let's 'do it to it', eh?"

They grinned at each other, neither realising how odd it was to share such a moment at a time like this. But they both knew that they had once been best friends... And after all these years apart, they still were best friends.

Back-to-back, they fought their way into the corridor, following the direction from whence they came. Amy held them off thanks to her superb marksmanship- always aiming for the head, Mechanists always went down from her with just a burst of three shots. Tails' method however was somewhat more brutal. Leading the way allowed him to distract with shots from his pistol, following up by closing rapidly to let his claws do the work. Amy would sometimes fall behind, but he would always hold and wait for her; for a mercenary used to working alone, he could display a remarkable awareness for any team mates when he wanted to. And it was only now that she realised that she really hadn't fought so close to him yet – he had always ended up isolated from her somehow – and it amazed her how well they worked as a team.

It really was like when they played dirt hockey when they were kids.

Ten minutes of fighting brought them near to the entrance. There had been a few close incidents, including Amy running low on ammo for her rifle as a group of close-combat orientated Robians charged forwards. The matter was solved with Tails throwing her all of his spare pistol clips (thanking the Walkers that the rifle and pistol power packs were identical) leaving only the one he had loaded already and, from that point on, all combat from his end was up-close and violent, but not without elegance.

Soon they reached a fork in the road that Tails recognised. To the left was the way out – he could see the daylight from where he stood – but to the right was a squad of Mechanists pounding forwards, all of them bearing powerful metal fists that crackled with energy.

He placed himself between the junction and the mechs with his claws at the ready whilst Amy dashed towards the exit. He glanced to her as she dropped to one knee and took a position further up the corridor, her rifle aimed in his direction.

The mechs closed. "Let them come!" Amy yelled, and he skipped back a pace as the first swung for him.

Amy's burst took the head from the first Mechanist, and the stomach from the second. She fired at the third too, but the blaster rounds were stopped prematurely as a thick metal door slammed down between the two Mobians.

Tails stared dumbly at the door for a moment before realising the danger he was in. Three Mechanists remained- one of whom was already lunging for him with lightning-shrouded hands.

He ducked from the attack, and delivered an uppercut to the groin. The mech fell back, an enraged comrade leaping over him to get at the Spyder, but Tails was already moving. A well-timed snap-kick caused the Mechanist to miss, leaving him open for a counter attack which Tails did not ignore, slashing and disembowelling.

The final mech was a lot more cautious, not throwing himself in like his predecessors but dropping into a low, balanced stance. Then, suddenly, he dashed forwards quick as lightning, swiping a clawed hand towards him. Tails reacted instantly, courtesy of mechanical augmentations, but not quick enough to avoid the attack completely- a finger clipped his shoulder, and the discharge of power nearly floored him.

Walkers knew what would happen if the mech hit him full on- he couldn't take his time. This mech had to go down now.

Tails went with the blow, spinning around using and using his speed to the full. He ended up facing the Mechanist's back and buried his left claws- the mech fell, awkwardly, as he brought around his other claws to finish the job.

"Tails? Tails!" he heard squawk through the com-link on his wrist.

"I'm here Amy, I'm fine," he said, panting. He looked to the door- reinforced armour. Designed to stop a full assault (or at least slow one down). There was no way he could open it here.

"I'm going to try to open the door-"

"No, you go for the car, get moving!" he said, already running back into the complex. "This is a bunker, right? There's no way that you're going to get it opened from there without something heavy duty. I'll find another way out."

There was silence for a few moments. He could tell she didn't like it, but then she was smart enough to know that he was right.

"How do you know there is another way out?" she said suddenly.

"Because I'm an optimist, remember?" he said simply. "Trust me Amy. I'll see you in five."

"Alright, as soon as you get out tell me. I'll pick you up."

"Got it."

He cut the link, dashing this time away from the route they had followed before and hoping for the best. He turned a corner, almost running flat into another squad of Mechanists- thanks to Robotnik's modifications he reacted immediately and turned in tight, dodging the leader and cutting into him beneath his ribs. His left arm came up to remove a limb from another as he passed and, using his momentum to the full, kicked off the wall to perform a somersault over a third.

The crack of a blaster being discharged echoed as he fell to a crouch- the wild shot missed him and disintegrated the head of the mech behind him. Tails lashed out immediately, cutting the throat of the trigger-happy trooper and knocking him back into his last living comrade. The final mech stumbled under the sudden weight, but his bionic legs gave him enough stability to remain upright- a fact the Spyder was able to exploit to the full as his clawed fist connected with his face.

A squad dispatched in moments, but Tails did not pause. He could not; to stop meant death. His only chance was to keep moving, and hope that the Ancient Walkers was smiling upon him.

And apparently they were, as he found himself attacking a group of Mobians with mechanical eyes of some kind and leather jackets. They had not been running towards him, and aside for a small service pistol each were unarmed- pilots for something. And Tails' best guess was that they were running for whatever it was they flew.

And they had been close to their craft too, for Tails suddenly found himself running into a large angular room. The walls and ceiling were made of the same metal as the rest of the complex, the only difference being the floor covered with tarmac and the yellow markings painted onto it.

Across the far end of the room were a number of craft he recognised as military grade airspeeder bikes. Such vehicles had become popular with rich folk with too much time on their hands (as they were both difficult and expensive to maintain), but Tails knew that many governments saw uses in them due to their speed and manoeuvrability. He had owned one a few years back for a time as a reward for a job, but it had been damaged around a coolant feed and no matter what he did, he couldn't get it going again.

As a result he did not care much for the temperamental machines- but at a time like this, he couldn't afford to pass up such an opportunity. He was in a garage of sorts which had to have a route leading outside somewhere, and he could remember a time in Oak learning how to hotwire similar vehicles.

He wasted no time, drawing his pistol and using what remained of his ammo to force technicians away as he ran for the bikes. As he closed he leapt behind one, slashing a soldier who had got too near in the process, and used a claw to cut away at the wires surrounding the ignition lock.

There was a spark, and a high-pitched whine signled the powering-up of the engines. He straddled the machine, making a quick mental note of the controls- a pretty standard layout with the addition of a trigger for the twin under-slung blaster cannons, and kicked it into gear.

There was a tunnel ahead of him which, judging by the markings on the floor, was the way out. He pressed his foot down on the drive pedal and speeder bike shot towards it, leaving shouts and gunshots behind. An alarm was still ringing, and the doorway leading outside at the end of the corridor was closing- Tails kicked up another gear and floored the power.

He made it with a moment to spare, shooting out onto the planes around Tau-27 like a bullet from a gun. He was confident of no pursuers for a while thanks to the door being closed, but it being open in the first place suggested an uncomfortable truth to him- Amy was racing away in the Knothole airspeeder, and she was being followed by mechanists on bikes just like his.

Using the compass on the control panel, Tails angled as close as he could get towards Knothole, and hoped for the best.

----------

Raid couldn't help but feel that this was something of a last-minute gesture. Well, it was the idea he supposed- if he could make the people believe that he had come here to talk to them honestly rather then feed them some political spin, then all for the better. But if they didn't, then he would have to resort to much more desperate measures... Either way would work, but this one would give better results.

"People of Chestnut!" he shouted out from his soapbox. Word of him visiting the Old Quarter had spread like wildfire - the poor fools probably thought he really cared about them - and a sizable crowd had gathered, filling the square. A crowd of a good few hundred people which, he could clearly see, were notably segregated into mechs and norms.

How very interesting.

Time to put on the drama.

"Some of you have heard rumours of an army from Machina marching on Knothole. I will not lie to you; it is true!"

There were some gasps, but most took it with silent resignation. Apparently, they expected it.

"I want you to understand that this is not our war. We are an example to all civilised nations, an alliance of the flesh and the mechanical!

"But, we must be vigilant. I know well that the vast majority of our people are peace loving and a credit to our state, but there are some amongst you who are a danger. Some who believe that a war is inevitable across all of Mobius. So, to reduce the risk of any harm coming to us, all mechs are to be registered and issued with identity cards which they are to carry at all times."

The obvious bias in the favour of normal Mobians went down well with them. The mech half of the crowd however was not so welcoming, and already he could hear words of abuse. He stared in the direction they had originated from, and waited as the noise died down.

"Failure to comply with this will result in severe punishments," he said in a steely cold voice. "Especially to those discovered to be members of the Mechanist cult, who have been a cancer in the heart of our city for nearly 10 years. In fact, it is Mechanists who have created Machina's army, and it is Mechanists who threaten to bring this war to our doorstep."

There were nods and voices of agreement. This was good- they were taking the bait.

"So, the Mechanists must be eradicated, and it is our right- no, our duty to see it through! And I expect each and every one of you to do your part in ridding our fair city of them!"

The normal Mobians were getting incensed by his words. Mechs were getting worried.

And sudden silence fell as a blade appeared in his chest. For what seemed to be an eternity, nothing happened.

Raid gasped and stumbled, falling to his knees as the sword slid back out, his vision spinning. Somewhere, he heard screams and voices shouting murder.

A... 'mech' had had attacked him.

Well, he knew it had been coming anyway.

Gunshots sounded and arms encircled him pulling him away. His police were here, taking him to safety, but as they moved into a building he was able to catch a glimpse of the crowd- now a swirling melee of violence.

"Sir? Can you hear me?" a policeman said in his ear. He heard a door close, and he fought to bring his vision back.

"Yes, sergeant, I can," he said. And smiled... For now, finally, he could reveal himself for who he was.

Despite the wound, one purposely aimed to look worse than it really was, Raid was on his feet in an instant. From each clenched fist emerged a set of three foot-long claws, and behind the fake covering of his left eye a targeting computer worked a route through his bodyguards.

Raid had not lied when he told the Knothole elite of a mech killing political figures from time-to-time in Chestnut. Nor had he lied when he told them it was a canine with claws. Prower was the first Spyder-class Cyborg... but he was most certainly not the last.

To their credit, the bodyguards realised what he was with admirable speed, and their reactions to the threat were by the book. They were the best- but they were woefully unprepared for the threat of a Cyborg.

Within a minute, despite his wound, he had slaughtered them to a man.

Moments after it was over, he sensed another presence in the room, one wielding a blood-covered blade. Shadow had indeed done his job well.

Raid made his way to a window looking over the square, ignoring the medical equipment his bodyguards had brought for him. He did not need it- he could feel the nanobots going to work around his wound already, and he would be fine in a few hours.

Outside a war was breaking out. The Old Quarter was finally destroying itself after years of neglect and racial hatred. And there was one other reason why he had chosen to make his play here- firearms. This area was full of scum armed with weapons they should never have been allowed access to. And judging by the bodies and fires already scattered around, he had made the right decision.

And now not even the Chief of Police was alive to rally his forces. Confusion reigned- and no one could stop it.

"It has begun," he said to Shadow. The Snyper remained silent.

"And now for the next stage... We must get to Knothole."

----------

To run from the bunker was going against all of her instincts; Amy was a teacher, a friend, and a person, and all of those demanded that she do everything she could to help someone who needed her.

But, she was also a soldier, and that part of her knew that Tails was right. She had nothing near the equipment required to destroy a foot-thick reinforced steel door, and besides, Tails had proven he could handle himself in this kind of situation. He'd find a way out.

She dashed for her hover-car, still parked exactly where she had left it. A touch of a button on her wrist opened the rear door, and she pounded up the boarding ramp and leapt into the cockpit seat. She didn't know that anyone was following her, but then it didn't hurt to get away as fast as possible anyway.

Her suspicions had been correct though; as the craft powered up, an alarm buzzed bringing her attention to blips on the radar approaching from her right. She looked over just in time to see four jetbikes approaching, the guns of the lead craft lighting up as they neared.

Amy twisted the transport around to face the Mechanists, relying on the thicker armour on the front to protect her. It did, for now at least, deflecting bolts of energy from the curved hull.

The engines engaged, and she found herself being pushed back into her seat. The jetbikes broke formation like flares from a firework, cutting around to take shots at the weaker armour on her rear.

Well, she wasn't going to let them have an easy time about it.

With the flick of a couple of switches on her control panel, a linked pair of blaster cannons swivelled to life beneath the cockpit. The AI controlling them targeted the nearest bike on her command, opening fire as she banked the craft smoothly around to face the bikes once more.

The biker was good; perhaps some physical connection to his speeder gave him an advantage, as it seemed to side-step the shots. But Amy had other things to worry about, namely driving, and let the hover-car's computer do the shooting.

The land around Tau-27 was mostly desolate plain, though there was some rough ground (cliffs and the like) a few miles to the east. Her best bet would be to move there so that only one or two bikes could attack her at once. With those odds, she stood a chance. Out in the open, it was just a matter of time before a wild shot hit something vital.

She gunned the engine, and the craft flew through what passed as streets in the poor town. The bikes followed, but Amy was always moving, always turning down a new path.

The two sides exchanged fire. The blasters mounted on their craft were of a much higher voltage that the hand-held version that Freedom Fighters commonly used, and hence as Amy turned the hover-car with a smooth drift (bringing her side armour up against the bikes), some shots hit and tore chunks out of buildings. Wherever the chase went, houses would receive horrendous damage, many collapsing in on themselves. Amy didn't know if anyone was still living out here, and at this moment in time she did not particularly care either- but as she flew through the outskirts it was clear that no-one would be staying outside of the bunker for some time.

Amy maxed out the throttle, wincing as she was pushed into her seat at the sudden acceleration. Her nose was aimed towards a passage into the rough terrain, something of a miniature valley, one that, she hoped, would not suddenly end.

But at least if it did, she wouldn't be around anymore to worry about it.

The hover-car roared into the canyon, loose rocks and dirt falling in her wake. She strafed around corners and followed the land as it rose and fell, gunshots always following. Abruptly, Amy came to a hairpin turn as the canyon wall drew out briefly. She hit the airbrake, spinning the speeder on its axis, and fired the engines to push her back the way she came. All the bikes copied the move save for one; the driver apparently fancied his chances and tried to shoot her cockpit canopy. Such a shot would require accuracy and a stable firing platform- this was his downfall, as his refusal to manoeuvre allowed the targeting computer to catch up with him.

Red light lanced out from the swivel guns on the hover-car, catching a steering vane on the speeder bike. It lost balance, shuddering violently, forcing the driver to concentrate on bringing it back under control before he was thrown off at a speed that would easily break his neck.

Unfortunately he did not recover fast enough, and his bike slammed into the canyon wall. It crumpled flat and killed the driver on impact, following up with an impromptu cremation as the fuel lit up.

Amy cruised away, pulling up a short hill that led her to the top of the rocky ground. The area was littered with dead roots and long grass, a real problem as they hid any large stones. Should she hit one, then odds were that she'd end up as dead as one of her pursuers.

She geared up and cruised away, the bikes in hot pursuit. She jinked about, avoiding blaster fire, but could not dodge it forever. A blast grazed her starboard engine, and the grav-transport jerked as the disruption caused her to clip a rock. Her nose dipped and cut into the earth, spinning the vehicle around and bending the right hand wing.

She was stuck; the car was, essentially, pinned in place. She was a sitting duck.

Immediately, she leapt out of the pilot's seat and engaged the rear ramp. Outside was a rocky outcrop, perfect cover whilst she got her bearings, and perhaps she would have time to contact Tails. If he was out by now, then he'd come to help her.

Amy ducked down behind the stone as shots traced in on her. She grabbed her rifle, strapped loosely over her shoulder, and fell back on her talent as a marksman by firing a burst at the first closing bike.

He skipped sideways out of the way, returning fire and cutting so close as to force her to keep her head down. The next followed suit, shooting plainly around her, and it quickly became obvious to Amy that these rocks would not keep her safe forever.

The third, she decided, would be going down at least before her. The bikes had so far displayed an unnatural talent for avoiding energy based weapons, so she figured that somehow the riders had been modified to react to them instantly (well they were mechs after all, so it was a fair guess). But, there was always a chance that they would not take into consideration something small like, say, a rock. Or a hand grenade.

She clipped one off her belt and pulled the pin, peering over her cover to spot the bastard approaching. She timed herself, holding down the fuse, only releasing as the bike was mere meters away. And then she threw lightly upwards, dropping down as the bike tore through where she had been a moment before. She grinned as she realised that her gamble had worked- the biker had flown into the grenade full on, and with any luck it was now sitting comfortably in his lap.

She looked back, watching the bike accelerate away and begin to bank around for another pass. Suddenly it detonated with a satisfying thud, scattering shrapnel for a good thirty meters.

Two down, two to go.

Another was coming in. She didn't figure the same tactic would work again, so this time a variant would have to do. She ducked down, letting this one pass, and grabbed a fairly large rock- not huge, but heavy, and it took both hands to lift.

Her target came in. She waited, and as expected it came straight at her. As it approached, just like with the grenade, she flung the stone up and dropped down. The biker hit it, taking the blow in his chest, and whilst it was not big enough of an impact to kill him it did knock him from the seat of his speeder and threw him to the ground.

Amy grabbed her rifle and brought it to her shoulder. The Mechanist – who was, she noticed, almost entirely machine aside for a patch of fur around his midsection – was up in an instant, and charged as she fired a three shot burst.

It hit him in the left arm, and sparks burst from the wound. His right came around, ripping the gun from her and crushing the barrel with his artificial strength- it would take more than a severed limb to stop this Mechanist.

Amy jumped away and drew her 8-inch combat knife in a back-hand grip, ready and waiting for hand-to-hand combat. She knew that she couldn't beat him with pure strength- she would have to rely on her speed.

The mech charged with a roar more static than vocal, swinging a right hook at her with the force to crush boulders. Amy stepped back from the attack, then moved in once the fist had passed. Her knife came under his defence, and she buried it to the hilt in the only flesh she could see on him.

The mech made a strange noise that sounded like a static filled gurgle as she pulled the blade back out, covered in a vile mix of black liquid and blood. He stumbled past her, and she brought the knife up and around into the back of his neck as to cut several unarmoured cables. He dropped like a stone.

Just one to go, but the fight had brought her out of cover. In the open, the third mech down and out, her only cover lay about ten meters away- and the last biker was already lining her up in his sights.

Finding herself staring at certain death, it was odd she realised that the only thing she felt was the hope that wherever he was, Tails was okay.

Another roar of an engine, and from nowhere another bike shot past. In an instant she recognised the orange fur and twin tails of the rider as he leant in close to the mech, lashing out with a set of claws as he passed. The mech's bike twisted to the side, out of control, and propelled the rider to the ground nearby.

Suddenly, her odds had improved. But she couldn't delay- the mech was clearly still alive, pulling himself up and engaging the same lightning claws the others inside the bunker had possessed.

So close, he was on her before she could draw her pistol. He slashed once, twice, and each time she stepped away from the attack figuring that the lightning could only do bad things to her body- better to avoid his arms altogether than block.

She flicked out a boot, catching the mech in the ankle and causing him to stumble, and without pausing followed up with a powerful kick to the side of his head. The mech fell back to regain his balance giving her the opening she was looking for- her knife lashed out to cut his arm, pushing him on the retreat further, and gave her all the time she needed to finish the job.

As the Mechanist fell and the sound of Tails' bike drew near she eased back into her fighting stance and silently thanked Bunnie for her lessons on hand-to-hand combat.

"Amy, are you okay?"

She looked round to see him dismounted and approaching.

"Yeah, I uh... How did you find me?"

"That," he said, pointing to the crashed hover-car which was by now belching smoke from the engines. Apparently it had been hit pretty badly at some point. "What happened?"

"Well I crashed," she said flatly, fixing him with a wry smile. "Don't worry, I got out okay. Glad you turned up when you did though- you do know how to make an entrance."

He stood there awkwardly, and lightly scratched his neck, apparently not really knowing what to do. So she showed him with a hug.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said into his ear. He looked positively embarrassed.

"Yeah, me too."


End file.
